Leaving Oldham
Oldham, United Kingdom
This wasn't exactly organised...I didn't have any transport booked, and only had about half of my accomodation. Then everyone was telling me that Dublin was over-rated, and there's nothing to do but pubs (which I don't do!) Oh dear...
Anyway, I got myself to the railway station.
"A sailrail ticket to Dun Laorigh please"
"a what?"
...I repeat...
...we debate place name pronunciation...
...he taps some buttons on his big ticket machine...says he's never done one before...
...he taps some more buttons...
...he phones someone else...
"apparently the machine won't do them, you'll have to buy it at Manchester"
Luckily I'd allowed lots of time...
Manchester was pretty similar, with the added joys of explaining to the man on the barrier why I didn't have a ticket, but eventually I did get a ticket (after the guy had used up his Phone a Friend and got it wrong a couple of times), and did, eventually, get to Holyhead (via a stop at Llandudno Junction because none of the train toilets were working.)
I'd forgotten how scenic Anglesey was, I'll have to get back there.
written by  martin_b on April 16, 2007 from Oldham, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Eastern Ireland

Leaving...
Stockport, United Kingdom
Well, a well-planned trip this time, unlike Ireland. All accomodation booked, mainly in hostels, Eurostar booked, only the train to London not in place. What could possibly go wrong?
written by  martin_b on June 23, 2007 from Stockport, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: 10 days in Belgium

Setting Off
Birkenhead, United Kingdom
OK, technically Wendy gave me a lift to Birkenhead, but it seems a better place to start...
While I actually like Birkenhead (you have to see the Giant Grasshopper, and the historic warships, and of course the view across the Mersey), the docks aren't very nice, so no pictures!
Suffice to say that I got on board the Ben-My-Chree (which means something in Manx but I wouldn't know what), had a pretty smooth sailing, and arrived in the dark in Douglas without mishap, other than being sat next to a rotund gentleman who insisted on showing me his photos and telling me all sorts of (possibly false) stories about the island. Apparently there is some sort of Island mafia which runs everything, and it's cheaper to buy Manx food in Liverpool than on the island. Presumably due to the aforementioned mafia.
(At £15 each way, this ferry is probably the cheapest way to get out of the UK. It was a bit slow, because they'd manage to collide the fast boat with an oil tanker...quite an achievement. They did it in the Mersey, so it's not like either of them was even moving quickly.)
written by  martin_b on March 11, 2007 from Birkenhead, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Isle Of Man Coastal Path

To the airport...to Barcelona...too little sleep...
Manchester, United Kingdom
Well, we set off from Manchester at some ungodly hour of the morning. Wendy took immense care to wake me as early as possible by making as much noise as possible...which was kind of her I thought...
I'd never flown before, but to be honest the only bad thing was the stupid amount of time it takes to get through the airport and onto the bloody plane! No fear of heights, nothing like that...
Oh, and I didn't get a window seat! And I had to throw my sun tan lotion away. Luckily there wasn't any sun in Barcelona, so that was ok :)
written by  martin_b on March 26, 2007 from Manchester, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Barcelona

Barcelona day 1
Barcelona, Spain
Going from the airport in Barcelona nto the centre by train was a bit unnerving at first, because it starts off really grotty: that area of the city is very new and industrial, and doesn't live up to the reputation the city has.
Anyway, we eventually made the centre, and wandered around the Passeig de Gracia area in the sunshine (lots of Gaudi inspired hexagonal tesselated pavements) ,found the hotel (an impressive piece of navigation I thought), and got setled down. We were surprised there were quite as many English people about: it turned out that England were playing Andorra in Barcelona that evening, which we hadn't expected.
We figured out pretty quickly how to spot the Spanish: they were the ones wearing thick coats and scarves on what we thought was a warm day. I had imagined them to be a stylish, sophisticated lot, but Barcelonans do seem to be a rather drab bunch, truth be told, unlike the city they live in, which is certainly vibrant.
We had lunch in what you might call an authentic Barcelonan cafe. The lady owner clearly was not a fan of foreigners coming into her cafe to eat and giving her money. It's probably a good job we couldn't understand a word she was saying. I liked the robust food: sausage and bean soup, sardines, bread, wine, lemonade, and an orange for 7.50 Euros!
Later, we decided to look round the Barri Gotic area: it has a fabulous mix of old and very Spanish buildings, and stuff going back to Roman times. The walls can still be seen, a piece of aqueduct, and hidden through one unpromising gateway are a set of wonderful, complete Roman pillars, massive things.
The Cathedral is called La Seu, and the area around it is particularly old and wonderful.
The little old lady sat on the ground in the right hand pic looks unprepossessing, but she was singing the most marvellous opera-type music with great grace. At first we thought it was a recording coming from somewhere, until we noticed her. Round the other side of La Seu was a superb classical guitarist, so 10/10 for busking talent.
Inside La Seu is unusual: in England, cathedrals usually have cloisters which are just a square of grass. This one has palm trees and a pond in the middle. It's all a bit ostentatious though, not my favourite building overall, but it's worth visiting for the roof and the area around it.
Mind you, it does allow you to go up to the roof, which is pretty rare in England. There are some great views over the city, which is helped because of its bowl like shape: everything is very concentrated, so you could walk across it in a day.
They also put a lot of effort into the guttering.
written by  martin_b on March 26, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Barcelona

In Douglas
Douglas, Isle of Man
Well, Douglas was a bit drizzly at first, but soon dried off, and as that was the only rain I saw for almost a week, I can't complain. A slightly fuzzy pic, sorry! Only a short walk from the boat to my B and B, which was run by a sort of matriarchy of Ex-Preston women, who were very proud of Preston and very disparaging of Douglas Fish and Chips. Douglas is good for cheap B&B's, and I was very happy with this. Despite their comments I did pop to the chip shop in the evening, and went through my usual rigmarole of ordering the fish they haven't got. Try it some time, just order the second type of fish on the menu and see what happens. I went on the the cinema, which I only mention because I decided that as it was on the coastal path, I'd count that as the start of my walk! So technically, the first (very challenging) leg of the walk was a couple of hundred yards along Douglas seafront...after which a well deserved sleep.
I made breakfast the next day, and then set off in sunshine, walking clokwise around the island. First stop, Douglas harbour, which is probably the most scenic bit of Douglas apart from the bay itself. The town centre is otherwise pretty drab. Just as I reached the other side of it, I saw...
The first Coastal Path sign!!! Ok, it might not look much, but I do have a habit of setting off on walks in the wrong direction, so psychologically, this mattered. It was a shame it pointed up a steep set of steps going all the way up the hill, but you can't have everything. And when you reach the top of the hill, this is what Douglas looks like;
If you cross your eyes a bit it probably looks like I've done a nifty panorama there...
There was a Camera Obscura on the hill, but it was closed. There are both ups and downs to walking in the Isle of Man in March. First, nothing opens until April (which doesn't matter, because the scenery is still there). Second, everyone thinks you are mad. Third, accomodation is plentiful and cheap. Fourth, there are no seals- I was looking forward to seeing the seals too. But last, you get the fabulous scenery completely to yourself. I mean, completely.
A nice level walk on an abandoned road all the way to Port Soderick. Apparently the Manx were going to build another tramway here (you can never have too many, can you? And if you've put them all the way up your highest mountain, why let a bit of coastline stand in the way?) Hence the ornamental gateway in the middle of nowhere.
All the way down, there's lots of stunning scenery. On this first leg, it's mainly tiny little bays, with some very impressive crashing waves. At least until Port Soderick...
written by  martin_b on March 11, 2007 from Douglas, Isle of Man
from the travel blog: Isle Of Man Coastal Path

Rushing around London...this trips cockup
London, United Kingdom
Getting to London from Stockport was easy enough, with Wendy's help for a lift to Wilmslow. It was an odd route though...I won't put it on the map, but we went Wilmslow-Crewe-Birmingham-Coventry-Rugby-Watford-London. Draw than on a map and see how straight it isn't!
Anyway, I had some time to kill, so I went to the British Library, which is very near the stations, has free lockers for luggage, and a nice cafe.
I had lunch and looked around their exhibition called Sacred, which is really good and shows sacred texts from Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
My locker key had an unusual choice of numbers...was this an omen???
Whether it was or not, it was just after leaving the library and getting to St Pancras station that I realised that my Eurostar train actually left from Waterloo International, which is on the other side of London. AAArgh!
2 tube trains later, I did make the train on time.
Eurostar trains are very very long, and very very empty as far as I can see. No wonder they are broke. They are clean, but feel a bit sterile, all beige and grey, and weird headrests which restrict your view while not being very comfortable.
They are fast however. The channel takes no time at all, and it wasn't long before we reached Lille.
written by  martin_b on June 23, 2007 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: 10 days in Belgium

To Holyhead and beyond...
Holyhead, United Kingdom
Now, I remembered Holyhead as being a dump in the back of beyond that you wouldn't want to go to. Actually, on a sunny day it's quite nice, and if you read on there's some pictures later.
We also had a very nice boat to take us across. Quick, cheap, nice chairs, typical dodgy food. Sadly as it's one of the superfast hydrofiol jobbies, it doesn't have an observation deck, but there are excellent views from inside. there is a tiny little outside platform right above where the water comes out of the hydrofoil: the sheer power of it is amazing.
Coming towards Ireland, there's a good view of the Wicklow mountains, where I was going to be walking, but not much to see of Dublin itself, which is a pretty flat city really.
written by  martin_b on April 16, 2007 from Holyhead, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Eastern Ireland

a little bit of Dublin
Dublin, Ireland
Dublin at last! I arrived at Dun Laorigh which is just at the southern extreme, and had to catch a DART train into the centre. It's a scenic trip along the coast: I hadn't really realised Dublin had so many sandy beaches.
The centre of Dublin, near to the main rail station, is ugly, noisy and dirty. Not a great first impression, and as I got lost trying to find the hostel, it seemed to get worse.
Eventually, I did reach it. It was a bit on the spartan side, but then it is a hostel. Had to complain to get some lights, but got there in the end. Never did get a working shower though (there were more outside of the room!) I seemed to be the only person in the 4 bed dorm, so nice and quiet.
Before it went dark, I took a walk across the river, around Temple Bar and to the South. Again, very noisy, but I did fine a great park full of statues/scultures, which was a very pleasant and restfully quiet way to spend some time.
Oh, and I finally got a roommate at around midnight...she came in in the dark, and tried really really hard to be quiet, but failed completely..I had to laugh...
written by  martin_b on April 16, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Eastern Ireland

A quick dash through France
Lille, France
We only stopped momentarily in Lille, but I'm still counting it as France! The French countryside up from the channel seemed pretty bland and flat. Lots of well-orchestrated greenery, and no hedges. Not really my cup of tea.
Lille itself, we couldn't see very well from the train, but it didn't look any great shakes.
As we got towards Belgium the scenery did get a bit livelier, but still not exactly dramatic. Anyway, we were soon in Brussels.
written by  martin_b on June 23, 2007 from Lille, France
from the travel blog: 10 days in Belgium

Mainly Montjuic
Barcelona, Spain
We decided to spend the day on Montjuic, which is a hill overlooking the city. On the way we passed through the extremely touristy Las Ramblas. Just behind it is the Merkat de la Boqueria, which is well worth a visit: fantastic fresh food, fruit, meat, and seafood so fresh it's still moving in some cases. I kind of wished that we had booked a self catering apartment, as with this sort of produce cooking would have been a pleasure.
Las Ramblas itself has to be seen I guess, not exactly high culture, but they do have some nice living statues, well, lots of them.
Eventually they do get boring, but the competition is very high here, so the quality is good.
Montjuic has all sorts of stuff going on. A funicular railway and cable car lead to the top, where there's a castle overlooking the city: it's quite plain, but worth the trip for the view.
Downslope a bit are various other attractions (you can't move in Barcelona without finding things to do or see): there's the Olympic stadium, a botanic gardens (we accidentally sneaked in the back way without paying, after taking an unorthodox route down the hill (straight down, through the trees!)).
I am of course a hippy at heart, so here's me hugging a tree, and some eucalyptus bark (one of my favourite trees.)
There's also an absolutely huge art gallery, the Museu d'Art de Catalunya. It really needs a couple of days to take in, and we were blown away by it. It just has everything, from old church frescoes through medieval paintings to modern art and some Gaudi. We just picked some bits, and decided that we definitely didn't like Miro (who gets his own museum, but honestly I don't get it!)
written by  martin_b on March 27, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Barcelona

Port Soderick
Port Soderick, Isle of Man
Port Soderick is a lovely little place. Sadly the cafe complex is closed, but even so, this is a perfect little bay, with it's own cave, sand and pebbly beaches, rocks to climb: so why are there no families with kids here? Well, nobody here at all except a mysterious green transit van. I eventually figured out that Manx government workers do precious little work, and spend their time admiring the view in transit vans from all the most scenic locations on the island. Not that I can blame them.
I now have a pipe dream in my head about all the things you could do with that cafe...I think an outdoor pursuits centre is winning right now.
Up river is a great little glen (they have glens here, not valleys), but I had to go inland a bit before returning to the coast (presumably cos of an unfavourable landowner.)
Oh yeah, here's me, overlooking one of the little bays around here.
The scenery gets better and better through the day, as the path now winds along (somewhat unstable) cliff tops.
I was really enjoying being alone with my thoughts. It was so quiet that some guy in a Landrover, on seeing me in the distance, beeped his horn and drove across the fields to quiz me about what I was doing. He didn't give me much info about himself though, except to vouch that it was going to get muddier (Port Soderick to Castletown was the only muddy bit on the trip.)
Anyway, eventually Castleton appeared in the distance (that little dot, far left!) It seems a really nice place, but apparently Jeremy Clarkson lives there, on the sticky out bit. Thankfully I didn't see him.
written by  martin_b on March 12, 2007 from Port Soderick, Isle of Man
from the travel blog: Isle Of Man Coastal Path

Castletown
Castletown, Isle of Man
I stayed in King Williams College (it's the one that has the quiz in the Guardian every Christmas.)
It's a rather posh looking place, on the outskirts of the town, with cheap hostel style accomodation. I was the only person staying in the hostel bit, so I had the whole building to myself. What I also got here, when it went dark, was the clearest sky I have ever seen. I was gobsmacked at how many stars I could see, very magical.
The caretaker, on hearing that I was walking the coastal path, seemed to be a bit disdainful that I was taking a whole 10 days or so to complete it. Apparently there is an annual race to visit all the churches on the island, which is a similar distance, about 100 miles, and they finish it on the same day (they gave special dispensation for some 70 year old to have an extra hour!) I think I might give that a miss.
Castletown itself is very pretty indeed in the day, but a bit quiet by night. Eventually by stopping a random person in the street I found out the place to eat is Garrisons, and it was excellent (a good variety of tapas size dishes to mix and match, delicious.) Apparently it's best to book ahead, and as this is the best place to eat I found on the island, and not expensive, it's worth doing so.
And here is Castletown: it used to be the Island's capital, it has great beaches, historic buildings, great scenery, good food...and no tourists. I don't get it, I really don't.
written by  martin_b on March 12, 2007 from Castletown, Isle of Man

mainly rain and Gaudi
Barcelona, Spain
It was a wet day, so we set off to do inside things. For some reason Wendy didn't take a coat, I don't know why.
Anyway, we took the metro, and found the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's famous church which is still being built. It is quite as amazing as it's reputation, and pictures probably work best;
The doors have all sorts of hidden details, secret messages, that would probably appeal to Da Vinci code fans;
And the tortoise just reminded me of Terry Pratchett...
If you go, it's well worth going in the museum bit, which does a great job of explaining Gaudi's influences, and the way he designed his buildings upside down, with weights and chains.
We had some lunch nearby, in a sort of Spanish/Italian cafe (soup with short pasta and a poached egg, eggcellent!), and then we went to the Casa Battlo, another Gaudi building, to avoid the rain.
It didn't work, really, but at least it had stopped by the time we got to the roof, which is the most distinctive bit of the building. The chimneys and other structures up there are quite unique.
It's also worth visiting Casa Amatller if you are there, as it's right next door, and an equally wonderful building by a different architect. It reminds me inside of John Rylands Library in Manchester. I think both are inspired by libraries in Oxford.
written by  martin_b on March 28, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain

Brussels, home of the crappest railway stations in the world, and sprouts.
Brussels, Belgium
Wouldn't you think that if you were building a gateway station, to welcome people from across Europe into your capital city, you'd make it quite nice...well, you'd be wrong.
Brussels Midi station...it's dark, it's concrete, it has a maze of shops and no architectural value whatsoever. Of all stations, this is the one I most wanted to get out of...and yet, it's so badly designed that even trying to leave is difficult, and trying to leave in a particular direction almost impossible. The signs to whatever you want point (if you are lucky) in a vague direction, and then peter out. If you're lucky, and find your way through the confused foreigners, you might find a map on the wall. Even then it's not simple.
This was also my first encounter with Belgian toilets. I found the map, found a toilet...it was closed: there was an arrow pointing vaguely off to one side, but no real clue as to where the other toilet was. eventually I found one way at the other end of the station...and then like almost every toilet in Belgium, you have to pay. If the staff spent as much time keeping the toilets pristine as they do getting money out of people, I wouldn't mind so much.
Eventually I got out, and started walking to the hostel. It was a dirty, run down boulevard, that had obviously been important once. By this point I was thinking Brussels had as much charm as Salford. If you don't know Salford, it's well worth a visit: the locals are very friendly and it's very much unspoiled by tourists.
As I was walking along, there was some sort of impromptu celebration on the other side of the road: 4 or 5 carloads of young Asian kids (Moroccan?) stopped their cars, started beeping their horns, shouting, dancing, and generally holding up the traffic. The traffic generally wasn't pleased, but they didn't seem to care. I was tempted to take pictures, but then I didn't know what they were celebrating. If it was some sort of terrorist attack on London, say, then it might not have been appreciated. On the other hand, maybe someone had just blown up the station- that cheered me up.
By this time I was beginning to think that Belgium was quite different to what Lonely Planet told me! Maybe the train had gone to Beirut instead? It kind of got worse as I went close to the canal (I guess I should have guessed when it was called the Boulevard d'Abattoir that it might not be the best bit.)
The canal, while not scenic, is at least interesting, and has lots of little wind turbine things on the other bank. I don't know if they were just decorative.
The hostel, "Generation Europe" was just beyond that. It's quite pleasant, clean and up to date, and while the room was quiet the whole place does have a lively atmosphere. My room had 4 bunks, but I was the only one there: an american guy came in later. He seemed to be on some sort of whistle-stop tour, had just arrived in Belgium and was leaving for Amsterdam the day after. I'm not convinced that sort of speed really helps you see much of a country!
Having got settled in, I went for a walk, and some food, in the early evening. The area I was in was part of a suburb called Molenbeek, I think. It was extremely, vibrantly Asian, filled with general shops, takeaways, and lots of clothes shops: from fabrics to asian tailors to sari sellers. Rusholme looks tame by comparison.
Leaving this vibrancy behind for now, I found myself back at the Canal de Charleroi, and crossed over...and at last found the historic Brussels I'd been expecting. I wandered randomly, enjoying the views, and eventually ate in a restaraunt with tables in this square, the Place St Catherine.
That's the church of St. Catherine. I ate in a place called Jacques, which specialised in seafood (I had Wing of Skate and fish soup: not bad, but quite French presentation.) It was run by an odd waiter who I ended up feeling a bit sorry for. He was continually almost running between the restaurant itself and the square, where everyone was sat, across the little road in between. When he got there, he was then trying to deal with about 10 tables, speaking about 4 languages seemingly fluently, and dealing with idiot Brits who didn't even seem to like fish. He gave me sparking water rather than non-sparkling, but it seemed churlish to complain when he was doing all that!
written by  martin_b on June 23, 2007 from Brussels, Belgium

Tuesday is archaeology day
Dublin, Ireland
Tuesday was the day I got a bug as well...
Anyway, I found out today that my roommate was a French girl called Stephanie. She was meant to have come with her boyfriend, but he had discovered at the last minute his passport was out of date. A lesson for us all there...
I headed South across the river, and poppoed in briefly to Trinity College, which looks a bit like this:
Lots of tourists, and not very exciting in my view, so I went on the the National Museum, to see the archaeology. I'd wanted to come here ever since my Celtic Studies course. Thankfully, although I had a headache and felt a bit grotty, I found this to be an awesome collection. Pictures are sadly not allowed, but it's one of those rare places where everything is world class, and my jaw was dropping for most of the day. There's stuff from Newgrange and Knowth, an Egyptian collection, lots of Bronze age and Iron age bits, an exhibition of gold artifacts from the bronze age on, which is quite incredible and unique, and some medieval stuff. I spent pretty much all day looking, and didn't get through it all, even though the Viking bit was closed (the roof collapsed unexpectedly.)
One of the best bits of all was the special exhibition on bog bodies. There were 5 or 6 on show, which is about 5 more than I've ever seen before, so rare they are. I hadn't realised before that when these brown, wrinkled, dessicated looking things come out of the ground, they are actually soft and fleshy. There was a video of an autopsy on one which brought this out. I stayed in that exhibit for an hour and a half, so good it was.
What else today? Well, I kept nipping out, because my attention span was suffering with the bug. There's several more nice parks on that side, worth a visit. NOT worth visiting is the Natural History Museum. Ye gods, it can't have changed in 100 years, and in a bad way. The National Portrait Gallery next door is a lot better though (but the cake is overpriced!)
In the evening, I went to see a play, "A Pleasing Terror", at Andrew's Lane Theatre, which was a one man show, telling 2 of the ghost stories of M.R.James. It was extremely well done, with the actor just playing James himself telling the stories, in a small candlelit room. He began hunched over the candles, half-lit, and blew them out as the play went on. Definitely worth seeing if it comes to the UK, it really brought out some of the comedic side to the stories, as well as the horror.
written by  martin_b on April 17, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland

Carry on up the Liffey
Dublin, Ireland
The bug seemed to have passed a bit, so I decided on a walk up the Liffey for today.
I started off, but then decided on an Irish breakfast. This turned out to be ok, but a bit meat-heavy. I'm a bit dubious about white pudding: kind of like sausage meat, and not what I want for breakfast. Sightly disturbing to see people drinking Guinness for breakfast.
Anyway, the lower stretches of the Liffey are a bit loud and dirty, and I popped South to Dublin Castle. It's a bit of a mix, from the original Viking fortifications through Normans and medieval to victorian and modern bits. This bit is the chapel, based on one of the original Norman towers.
Behind the Castle, there's a really nice maze garden. If you believe the guides, this was the site of the original "Dubh Lin" or black pool, which was where the Vikings landed. Looking on the medieval maps, I think that's dubious, but it's still quite pretty, and I sat in the sun for a bit watching the world go by.
Just to the right of that garden, there's the Chester Beatty Gallery, which is a really relaxed building, not old but just calm and tranquil, with one of the worlds greatest collections of ancient religious texts, including the oldest version of some bits of the bible. This water feature is in the shape of a peacock feather: the cafe next to it is well worth a lunch visit. This is where the beautiful people of Dublin come to lunch.
While I was up that end, I popped into Christ Church, one of Dublin's cathedrals. Fairly boring, except that at the front, there's a little iron heart shaped casket. Inside of it is the heart of Strongbow, the famous warrior that came over with the Normans and beat seven bells out of Ireland.
Eventually I actually got back to the Liffey, and headed upstream. It's a nice walk, and it's a shame the Liffey is so neglected by visitors. I went as far up as the Guinness factory, then headed down the other side, stopping at the other site of the National Museum (clothes and stuff), at what used to be a very majestic barracks building.
The Liffey does seem a bit dead round here: no birds, although there was a fire brigade boat.
After that, I had to move my stuff to the B&B I was moving to, which was way in the South of Dublin. It says something about Ireland that the main bit of info offered was not bus times, or local restaurants, but a list of local church services. The B&B seemd to be run by Germans. But then most of Dublin isn't run by the Irish: asking for directions can be difficult!
In the evening, I discovered Camden Street. At last, a proper area where you can eat without getting ripped off. This is a really vibrant, young area, with lots going on. After that I went to the Camden Palace Ballroom, and did an East Coast Smooth lesson, which was good fun. I'd never done it before though, so as there were only 2 or 3 steps taught, I wasn't up to much really in terms of leading anyone. Only a small class with maybe 30 people, half of them actually Irish: I resolved to come next week if I could.
written by  martin_b on April 18, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland

Grand places and more crap stations
Brussels, Belgium
Well, I got up late, but this hostel understands the need for a good nights sleep, so breakfast goes on until 10 or so. So I did get some muesli and a pastry.
When I was ready, I walked across the city to the Grand Place. It was a nice scenic walk, via some churches (all with services on, so I didn't get to visit), and other places. This little statue was in a square tucked away behind the beguinage. It was accompanied by a man calling the staff of an old people's home "fascists". I'm not entirely sure why but it did spoil the mood a bit. As I got closer Grand Place itself, it started to get way more touristy.
Grand Place is the sort of place that makes your jaw drop just a little bit. It was the medieval centre of the town, and it's where the town and all its guilds tried to make the most impressive show possible. They succeeded, and it's been there ever since, as I understand it. Unlike some, it didn't get damaged much in the wars, although it did burn down in the 17th Century: they just built it even better.
Pictures are probably best.
It's even better in the flesh. I popped into the tourist information office, and got a taste of the rich depth of Belgian humour. "Hi, do you speak English?" "Yes, do you?"
He did give me directions to Waterloo as well, although with hindsight it might have been better if he hadn't.
Anyway, shrugging off the attentions of a guy trying to sell me a leather jacket, I left the square to head for the central station. On the way, I passed the Galeries St Hubert, which contain lots of tourists and some very posh shops. Oh, and a small cinema that shows 8 different films every day. It's actually twice as big as the picture shows, and very impressive.
The whole route to the station is quite impressive, lots of ornate buildings. It is all a bit touristy though, but you can see why. The Central Station is almost as bad as Brussels Midi: it actually has a brilliant main hall that reminds me of New York's Central Station, but most of the station is actually underneath that. Let's just say that if I wanted to shoot a horror film, the basement floors of Central would do very nicely. Dark corners, shattered concrete, it's the sort of place that makes you feel very alone even in a crowd of people.
My aim was to get to Waterloo, or more exactly Braine L'Alleud. To kill time before the train came, I took a look up the hill. As you go up, towards the royal palace and all the museums, there start to be some great views across the city.
Near the top of the hill, is this restored art deco building, which now houses the music museum (more later). It was the first in a store chain called Old England (which was neither). It's not quite Gaudi but it is pretty.
written by  martin_b on June 24, 2007 from Brussels, Belgium

Parc Guell and other bits
This was our last day, so we set off to do whatever we had missed.
In the morning, we went to the Sant Pere area, and successfully got completely lost. this had the positive side effect that we saw a wonderful area we would have missed, and in particular, the church that gives the area it's name. It has no tourists, and from the outside, it's just plain brick walls, but go in and it's a different matter. It's huge, dark, and built completely of domes and apses: so unlike anything in England. there are no tourists, just one of the finest buildings in the city (but in no way ostentatious).
After that, we found our way eventually to the Art Deco Palau de Musica Catalonia (the name gives away what it is I guess). Sadly, we couldn't get in as you have to book tours in advance. But the outside is very special, dramatic.
Maybe the one place that most reflects how Barcelonans think is this market. If we build a market in Oldham, we will rip up whatever was there, and build a big shed.
The Barcelonans, though, excavated the site, found an old monastery, preserved it with a viewing gallery and built it into a new market, which is a dramatic building in its own right.
Anyway, finally we moved on to the Parc Guell, probably the second most famous bit of the city. It's all full of tourists, but a bit anarchic at the same time, especially up the hill.
We were lucky enough also to spot some unusual wildlife. It's not often you can see a herd of boxes feeding, but here I was able to get quite close for this picture
But anyway, then we got to the pretty bits.
A nice example piece of tessalated flooring
The house at the top end.
And at the bottom of the park, a couple of Gaudi's most fairytale buildings still look fantastic (testament to the huge team of workers more than Gaudi's methods, I think!)
Just uphill from there is the famous Gaudi lizard, and a whole staircase full of odd mosaic pieces.
The staircase leads up to a pillared area, on top of which is a seating area.
I think the best bit though, and missed by many people, is the mosaic ceilings underneath the pillars.
This one is made of broken plates: fantastic curved forms!
Finally, in the evening we ate tapas on Las Ramblas. The English menu wasn't well translated, but the "Bull Balls" were delicious.

Castleton to Port St. Mary
Port Saint Mary, Isle of Man
Breakfast at the College is served at some ungodly hour, 8 o' clock I think, and involves walking to another hall. I decided that a bacon sandwich in Castletown was the better option, so dropping the keys off with the only person apparently working in the building I was in, I went into the town and did exactly that.
Setting off for Port St Mary, the first place on the map is Scarlett Point, a stunningly scenic bit, with a series of flat limestone layers dipping down to the sea, and behind them a flooded quarry, now home to some swans (lots of saltwater swans on the island, I hadn't realised swans could live in the sea), and some historic lime kilns.
It was as I got to the Point that the College caretaker caught me in his car, and asked where the keys were...I explained where I had left them. Apparently if he hadn't caught me he would have just phoned someone in Port St Mary and caught me there! I hadn't realised I stood out that much...
Port St Mary is a classic Victorian Resort, marvellous sandy beach, with selection of seabirds and very few people, and a single promenade of large Victorian houses overlooking the bay. The village itself is tucked away just above the harbour, and less scenic.
I stayed in Aaron House, which is a unique B & B. It's run by a lady who lives a victorian lifestyle, and the house is decorated and run likewise. She dresses as a victorian servant, and you get sponge cake with your afternoon tea. All very civilised, and I could really have got used to it! There is a brass telescope in the sitting room to look out at the views, and the most incredble chocolate sculpture.
I do like the rocks by the harbour here too...
The only downside is that it's not a great place to get food. I ate in Horizons, which seemed fine if you like big meat, but thats not really me. The other places looked really dear. On the upside, Port Erin is only 15 minutes walk, and has a good chip shop.
written by  martin_b on March 13, 2007 from Port Saint Mary, Isle of Man

and back home again
Manchester, United Kingdom
Just to complete the map, we did get back to Manchester. Ok, we nearly missed the plane, but luckily boarding was delayed anyway.
written by  martin_b on March 30, 2007 from Manchester, United Kingdom

Port St Mary to Port Erin
Port Erin, Isle of Man
This was probably the best day on the whole trip. It was only a short walk, round the bottom of the island (6 miles or so), but very dramatic.
First stop is the Chasms. Now, I don't like heights, so the idea of 300 foot precipitous cliffs...well, you can see the stress in my face in the shots below.
But I can't deny how awesome a place it is: gulls nesting on the almost sheer cliff faces just look like dots.
A couple of minutes later I realised why it is called the chasms: there's a piece of land just along from these pics, maybe football pitch sized, which is in the process of falling off the cliff, and is covered in, well, chasms, so deep you can't see the bottoms (but you can hear the birds that are nesting way down there). It struck me that while the odds of a bit falling while I was there were slim, it wasn't worth taking chances, so I gently circled round.
Just along again is this cool stone circle.
It has slipped down towards the sea, which makes for great photos from above, but sadly one day it will be lost entirely. The gear is from a party of climbers (this was actually perhaps the busiest day on my walk: I saw the caretaker, the climbers, and later some birdwatchers. No walkers though.)
Next on the agenda was The Sound, the southern tip of the island. There's a big island called The Calf Of Man, just off the end, so big I struggled to take a picture! These are my best tries at the whole thing;
The Sound itself has some very dramatic little inlets, and a huge vein of quartz running right across it. It's also a nature reserve, because of all the seabirds around, and way back in the Iron Age there was a promontory fort here, which I guess most visitors miss.
This is also a critical bit on the Coastal Path, of course: as far South as I can go, and still feeling pretty fresh.
Oh, and the other thing here is the second best restaraunt I found on the island. You can tell it's good: it's miles from anywhere (the population of The Sound is zero), and on a weekday lunchtime it's full. The fish soup was the best I've ever had.
Anyway, by this time I was almost blase about fabulous views, so although it was excellent walking, nothing else until we get to Port Erin.
I thought I'd seen some good beaches on this trip, but this one takes the biscuit. Really crowded though, have a look.
There were 5 or 6 people on it at some points, almost unbearable.
Port Erin also has a lighthouse, a bookshop, a chipshop, and an arts centre, with a rather nice bronze door.
No, I didn't take a picture of the chipshop.
And even the sand is cool...
written by  martin_b on March 14, 2007 from Port Erin, Isle of Man

BA here
Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
The train was fantastic: a two-storey jobby, very flash and modern. Great views from the top floor.
BA is just a small town. On balance, it would have been better not to ask tourist information. Then I would have got off at Waterloo station like the all the other tourists, and it probably would have been obvious where I needed to go. As it was, I was theoretically nearer, but there were no signs or anything.
I asked the station bloke. He looked like nobody had every asked how to get to the nearby most famous battlefield in Europe before. In fairness though, he was really helpful, and I eventually found the right bus stop. The bus driver was actually a man that didn't speak English: I'd kind of got used to absolutely everyone doing so by now. Anyway, eventually, after I'd started to realise just how bad my French was, we came to a mutual understanding that yes, this was the right bus, and yes, he would shout at me when we were there. It worked.
written by  martin_b on June 24, 2007 from Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium

The Royal Canal
Maynooth, Ireland
I felt like a change from all that urban stuff, so I took a train out to Maynooth, to the West, with the intention of walking back along the Royal Canal, whcih the guide books recommend.
Maynooth is a pleasant small town. It has a rather posh looking public school, Geraldine Castle, which was closed, and the odd shop. I thought I was in somewhere quite obscure, but even here in a 2 street town I could hear American voices. Anyway, I took a quick look round, while eating a rather nice summer fruits scone from a deli near the B & B.
The canal walk itself was fine...but I felt I could have done something very similar in England, so I wouldn't repeat it. The highlight was probably the sheer variety of birdsong, which was more than I'd expect in the UK.
The worst/most unusual bit of the day happened as I got closer to Dublin. There were 2 boys, leading 2 horses. They were trying to come off, away from the canal, but the metal gate was locked: there was a small gap for walkers. So they tried to do the extremely stupid thing of taking the horses through the small pedestrian gap.
Now, this got quite scary, because the first horse got stuck, and it started to get quite traumatic when the lad started to try to push and pull the horse through: it was getting upset, and it could have done itself a serious injury. I ended up holding the other horse (well a rope: you don't think I'm actually holding a strange horse do you?) while they tried to get it out.
In the end, it came through, with nothing broken, but it was stressed and bleeding. I decided to just get out of there quickly.
I did make it back to Dublin (it is hard to get lost on a canal!) and getting on a random bus seemed to work- eventually I found the centre again.
I did a Salsa lesson in the evening. It's phenomenally popular over here, there must have been 200+ people. I went in quite confident about my ability, but it turns out that some Salsa is different to others, and it was quite challenging to say the least. I did learn about outside turns though.
written by  martin_b on April 19, 2007 from Maynooth, Ireland

More in Dublin
By this time, I was running out of days to do Dublin before I had to move on to the walking part of the trip.
I started off by doing the rest of the National Museum. There aren't enough superlatives, really. If only the British Museum was this good.
After that, I crossed the river and walked up O'Connell Street, which cuts right through the main shopping area. It has a fancy tram system as well.
It also has this strange spikey thing, which is quite impressive.
Most of Dublin is covered in reminders of the fight for Independence. It's odd to remember that (apparently) at the time of the revolt that led to independence, most of the fighters were off fighting the Germans. The rebellion was started by some more dilettante types, and failed. It was only when the Brits killed the leader that public sentiment changed in favour of independence. It's funny how much of history rests on little things.
I was quite impressed by the cosmopolitan nature of Dublin after seeing this jacket!
Further up O'Connell St., there's a very grand post office, with this statue of Cuchulainn, just after he's died. Cuchulainn is too long a story for here- look him up on Google!
Still on the same street, and still on mythology, there's a war memorial gardens. At one end is a fantastic statue of the Children of Lyr being turning into swans.
I happened to go past the Gate Theatre, and noticed Sweeney Todd was just starting. It seemed to be fate that there was just one ticket left for the preview performance that evening, so I took it.
Just past that, turning left, is the Hugh Lane Gallery, with a nice modern art collection. Every nation has a few little known but excellent artists: Louis de Brocquoy seems to be one of the Irish ones. I'm sure that is spelled incorrectly.
OK, at this point I made the mistake of thinking I should walk to the botanic gardens. It was a boring walk, and a long way, don't do it! The gardens are good once you get there though.
There was one bit where there was a series of empty beds, with labels on but grassed over. I popped up to see what I had missed: it turned out to be a fine display of lawn grasses! Well, I almost wet myself with excitement.
That evening, I made it to the theatre on time. I felt really scruffy next to all the dressed up people (but hey, there's only so many clothes you can fit on one rucksack!)
My seat...was interesting. I'd known I was on the front row: what I hadn't realised was that the stage had been extended forward in the middle, so it finished, oh, maybe 6 inches from my left ear. This made the play quite an immersive experience. I had coins just missing me, being thrown off the stage, flour flying about, a dead body next to my head, you name it.
It was great fun though, first time I've been to a musical I think, and very entertaining: Sweeny Todd himself was excellent. A bit close at times, but excellent.

Port Erin to Peel
Peel, Isle of Man
The weather forecasts had begun to talk about blizzards sweeping down from Scotland...maybe doing this is March wasn't such a good plan. This was the toughest days walking, 15 miles and a very big hill in the middle. What's more, I'd noticed the day before that the very big hill was actually on fire.
This could be called excitement...or danger. I was plumping for danger.
Anyway, I set off with a nice uphill climb out of Port Erin. It was already raining. On top of the hill is Milner Tower, built to commemorate some victorian philanthropist. It's allegedly built in the shape of a key, as he used to build safes. I thought there was a fellow walker by the tower, which was quite exciting, but she turned out to be just another dog walker.
After that, the day was a bit grotty for a long while. It was raining, and as I walked along the cliff, huge clouds of smoke were coming over me from the burning hillside over the wall. This wasn't entirely pleasant, but eventually I got to go downhill to a little bay. Unfortunately the entire valley it was in was filled with smoke. As I climbed steeply up the other side, I was directly in the path of the smoke, and the rain was getting worse. I decided I had a choice between walking along cliffs on the highest bit of the coast, or cutting inland, so I went inland. If I'd known the terrain, I would have gone on, but I didn't.
Anyway, I shared a couple of grim hours with some sheep, getting soaking wet. The sheep didn't seem to mind. I suppose they were glad of the company.
Eventually, things did improve, and I saw some four horned sheep...
...some interesting seaweed...
...and Ireland! Trust me, it is there.
Still, I was pleased to get to Peel. Peel is a rather run down town, but has a fabulous castle, and some picturesque bits.
I was quite pleased to be able to spot my B & B from the hillside above as well. It's just left of the Church, and called Albany House. A very friendly place: I ended up watching the final of Celebrity Masterchef with the owners and their dogs!
There's also a good museum, with a replica Viking ship. Oh, and a kipper factory. I thought carrying kippers round the island wasn't a good plan though, but they did look nice.
written by  martin_b on March 15, 2007 from Peel, Isle of Man

Waterloo
Waterloo Battlefield, Belgium
OK, so after a walk-train-bus-walk, I actually reached Waterloo. You can't really miss it, because the victors (which wasn't the French, in case your history isn't good) built a bloody great conical hill in the middle of the Battlefield.
As you walk up, you pass the pub where Napoleon stayed. It does cost to see everything, but the museum is good, and it is worth paying to go up the hill (the Butte de Lion).
Some days, they say you can see the ghosts of the French army, still surveying the Battlefield...
If I went again, I think I'd try to hire a bike, as it would make it easier to get there from the station, and cycling round the Battlefield would probably be good: it's not possible to get to all the memorials on foot.
Looking at the memorials I did see, it was interesting that while the English and Prussians built monoliths commemorating some officers, only the Belgians actually commemorated all their troops.
I came away with a far greater understanding of the Battle...definitely a worthwhile trip.
written by  martin_b on June 24, 2007 from Waterloo Battlefield, Belgium

Slightly lost in Belgium
Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
Then it got interesting. I got rather cocky and decided to walk back to the train station. It seemed a good idea in theory, I'd noticed all the junctions were signposted on the way to the Field. What I hadn't thought of it that they weren't going to be signposted on the way back. It went fine for a while...but then I got to a junction where I just didn't know.
This was a bit worrying. I formulated a sentence in French and asked an old wrinkly woman which way I needed to go. My confidence took another shake when she said she couldn't understand me! As usual, eventually we figured it out.
So it worked out well really: I even found a big Belgian deli on the way back. All the signs outside were in English, presumably to look up market. In England, we'd probably be putting deli signs in French for the same reason, funny old world. Nice cakes anyway, and peach flavoured Lipton's ice tea, which qualifies as deli food in Belgium. They do like their tea.
I took a wander round BA before my train left. Quite a lot of shops for such a small place, and no chain stores either: lots of independent fashion and the like. No toilets of course, this is Belgium after all. The station toilets were firmly locked.
written by  martin_b on June 24, 2007 from Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium

On the way to Newgrange
Drogheda, Ireland
I could have taken a guided trip to Newgrange, but I decided to do it by train and bus. This meant a stop off at Drogheda. It's a fairly average small town with a big river and this little Martello tower.
There's a little local museum next to it, and the LOL (little old lady) at the desk gave me a tour of the local guild banners, which are very rare. She really had the gift of the gab, and seemed to want to tell me the entire history of Ireland, Drogheda and the museum on the side. I presume her family history was next, but thankfully I made my escape when the next party arrived. The only other highlight (????) is the display of historic telephony equipment, which is, erm, probably unique.
Irish Charity shops: they do have them, but they seem to reflect a different era, when there were society ladies, as many of them seem to be named after a particular person (Mrs Greene or whoever), and don't even mention the name of the charity concerned. A strange state of affairs, but then I guess that would have been how many charities themselves started in Victorian times.
and on to Newgrange...
written by  martin_b on April 21, 2007 from Drogheda, Ireland

Peel to Kirkmichael
Kirkmichael, Isle of Man
Well, the seas were rough today, but at least it wasn't raining.
The first bit of the day was walking North along the old railway line. Quite easy walking, and when it stops at Glen Mooar, theres the remains of an old viaduct.
I detoured up the valley a bit, as there are two things to see up there. The first is Sppyt Vane, one of the best waterfalls on the island, and the other Cabbal Pherick. Thats the chapel of Patrick, and while it's just a foundation, the location is very evocative. Those monks certainly knew where to build...
That's just a ckicken.
After Glen Mooar, I started the beach walking which was to take me round most of the rest of the Island. I caught the tides right, so no major problems there.
Kirk Michael itself is a bit dead: one of the few places on the island I couldn't recommend staying.
It does however have one of the Island's best collections of early stone inscriptions (bit fuzzy, sorry).
Some runic inscriptions there, and a really rare portrayal of a priest with an animal head, which will either excite you or not. It is worth seeing these and then leaving Kirkmichael quickly, which is what I did the next morning.
written by  martin_b on March 16, 2007 from Kirkmichael, Isle of Man

back to Brussels
Brussels, Belgium
When I got back, it was late afternoon/early evening. I wanted to find the puppet theatre, which is supposed to be good, so I went down the Galeries St Hubert and down the backstreets behind it. It's an astonishing area: it makes Las Ramblas look like a quiet cul de sac. Literally every building is a restaurant, all bustling with lights, signs and waiters looking for custom, and I was able to walk along in the rain down this narrow street, sheltering under one awning after another. The alley leading to the puppet theatre is so small that I walked right past it. Eventually I found it: the latest production was Faust, which sounded just right, but sadly it wasn't on the nights I was in Brussels. One of those places to remember to book in advance next time!
I ate in one of the restaurants, which was as adequate as restaurants trying to catch tourists always are, and cheap so I can't complain.
Back at the hostel, I got to have a chat to a new roommate, a guy called Cyber, probably the only Algerian in a wheelchair in Brussels at that particular time. He'd come over for the free music festival that had just finished. It did seem a long way to come for a not exceptionally big music festival, but maybe he was a dj or something, I dunno. He asked whether I was going to go to Algeria: I asked "is it safe?" He went quiet for a second, then started smiling and said "for you, probably not right now!". Ok, I'll give that one a miss then.
written by  martin_b on June 24, 2007 from Brussels, Belgium

Newgrange
Donore, Ireland
Donore was the nearest I could get on this map...
OK, Newgrange is a World Heritage Site, think of it as Ireland's Stonehenge. Its a huge artificial mound, with a chamber inside which is wonderfully lit up only for a few days around the solstice (for which there is a lottery to get in and see it.) It's a truly magical place, and with its bright limestone covered sides would have been visible from great distances originally.
There is a whole complex of similar and related sites in the area, which the Irish government haven't yet managed to drive a motorway through.
Luck seemed to be with me on this trip: all the signs were saying that the tours for today were fully booked, but when I got to the visitor centre, it turned out they had just one ticket left for the last tour, so I got in!
Anyway, here are the pictures...
The big picture;
Some of the famous stones which go around the outside of the base, and which I'm sure many people miss.
And the entrance: ignore the fat bloke, he's not a druid or anything. the white stones are where the original line would have been, the grey stones have been cut away to make access easier for modern visitors. It's still frustrating though, very crowded when you get in, and so little time to see it properly.
written by  martin_b on April 21, 2007 from Donore, Ireland

Kirkmichael to Jurby
Jurby, Isle of Man
A nice sunny start to the day, but the sea was very rough. It is a little worrying when you are walking between a rough sea and some extremely unstable looking cliffs: you have to give them 10 feet or so clearance, because if it does suddenly come down it would be a killer.
There's lots of interesting rocks on the beach, here's some fossilised coral;
It has to be said that this isn't the best stretch, and it did get very windy, hence I didn't really feel like taking photos. Eventually I battled my way to Jurby (started by the Vikings). It's an odd place. Jurby church was rebuilt by servicemen from the airfield during World War 2, and the graveyard is sadly full of mainly Canadian and Polish casualties.
The airfield is still there, and the island's new prison is being built next to it. I can't help thinking there's a bit of a flaw in the planning there...are prisons meant to have excellent transport links? Isn't is better to put them somewhere where escapees at least have to put in a bit of work to get out of the vicinity?
Also next to it is the very curious Jurby Junk. This is both the biggest and most bizzarre junkshop ever, seeingly built on the principle that all tat has a value if you keep it long enough. If you want a dozen paddles, some 70's plates, industrial quantities of knicker elastic, old TT tshirts, or 20 identical 1960's uniforms, this is the place for you. Has to be seen to be believed.
I can recommend Goldies Loughan as an excellent place to stay. Wonderful rooms, very cheap, and you get a lift to the pub and back so you can eat in the evening.
written by  martin_b on March 17, 2007 from Jurby, Isle of Man

Brussels is a bit closed
Monday is not an entirely good day to be in Belgium...Belgium closes on Mondays. I'll skip all the places I tried to go to which weren't open.
This was the day I was due to move to a B & B (cos the hostel was full up). I decided to go out to the Atomium, and then walk across to the B & B. I got to Heysel, via the Metro, fairly easily. When I got there though, it was raining about as heavily as it can rain, so I hid in the station for a bit. The famous/tragic stadium was just across the way.
When it stopped a bit, I headed down to the Atomium. It has the quality that it's almost impossible to take a bad picture of it.
As you get closer, it's even possible to do some arty abstract pictures, and the sheer scale of it does get quite impressive. It was refurbished a couple of years back, so it looks especially bright and shiny now.
Inside, it's still fairly space age, and full of...small children, and cute cars! Well, only these few cars. If you can choose your moment to get in the lift to the top when the queue is less than 30 people, go for it! The stairs and escalators inside are atmospheric, and you get snatches of other spheres going up.
The views from the top are pretty good as well: the whole of Brussels is in view. This is the avenue leading down past the royal gardens (Belgium is obsessed with royalty, you'd think they weren't really a democracy yet), where I was going to walk, but it was wet and the queues made me late as well.
So, I took the metro to Rogier, nearer the area I was staying, and walked North for a mile or so to the B & B. The area turned out to be very Moroccan/Arabic, and it must be an excellent place to buy cheap clothes: prices start at 1 Euro, and 10 Euros is a fair way up the scale. I kind of wished I'd left everything at home and just bought on the spot.
The B & B was more a room in someone's house. It belonged to a lady called Nadine, who used to be in advertising or something but now made up market wedding videos. It was certainly an unusual place to stay: the house itself looked narrow and shabby form the outside, and dark and gloomy at first inside, but it soon became clear that it was at one time really high class. Massively high ceilings, (higher ceilings by far than the victorian house I live in) lovely stained glass windows downstairs, ornate plasterwork, lots of light and a sort of salon feel.
Also, a collection of cats and one lively dog. The whole place had a sort of run down/comfortably arty/alternative lifestyle feel. My bedroom had a low bed, a tv which only worked in black and white, huge piles of books, and decor consisting solely of female nudes, both prints of famous works and a large hand drawn piece. There was a very large bathroom, which suffered from a lack of light, ie they weren't any, apart from one little one over the mirror. It also suffered from a lack of soap, although on the other hand there were half a dozen bottles of perfume, so nobody left smelling bad.
On the whole, I liked it.
Anyway, it was early afternoon and the weather cleared, so I walked back to the centre, through a small botanical garden. It used to be a big garden, but the planners of Brussels kept chopping bits off, and chopped it in half with a road as well. You could tell from some of the signs that the park head was pretty pissed off. It was a bit sad: even the botanic collection had been moved somewhere else. It's a shame, because with a little work, it could be something astonishing.
Brussells' planners are not brilliant: the old bits of the city are great, but there are are too many concrete monoliths elsewhere.
The cathedral looks very impressive from the outside: very classic looking. On the inside though, it's just boring and very sterile, I was expecting better.
It does have this cool reliquary though, whcih still has a saints hand in. It's really unusually for even fake relics to survive these days, and I thought this was fascinating.
Back down the hill, near the Grand Place, I went into the clothing and lace museum. It's very quiet and calm, tucked away in a little back street, a nice change from the rest of Brussels.
Blimey, I didn't realise how much I stuffed into this day until I wrote it down...it's like a holiday all to itself.
Next, I did the thing that every visitor to brussels has to do (it's the law)- see the Mannekin Pis. The peeing guy. The comment everyone makes, is "is that it?". The only outstanding thing about it that it is peeing. It's tiny and not attractive otherwise, and a lot of people walk right past it (one of the museums has a video of people walking past it without noticing or saying "no, that can't be it").
It does wonders for the tourist shops, mind! You can't move for lace, chocolate and waffles.
I bought some lace edging for Wendy, then wandered sort of South-West from there.
Every other corner seems to have a stunning church, all of them better than the cathedral, but relatively ignored by tourists. Lots of shops as well; in the area I was in lots of comic shops, record shops and stuff. I ended up eating in a noodle bar close to Place St Catherine, and then wandered towards the Galeries St Hubert so I could see a film.
I found a huge shopping street (Nieuwstraat) on the way, and then an extremely mellow square hidden away, the Place De Martyrs. You can probably figure that name out! A great place just to sit and pass time, all grand but not overbearing white buildings, with a big memorial in the middle. I sat there until it started raining, then hurried to the cinema.
The cinema was excellent: very arthouse. I saw "A guide to recognising your saints", which I don't think has really hit the uk yet. It's very gritty in a lowlife American way, very gripping and in parts very sad. So engrossing and believable I wanted to shout at the screen at one point...I'd recommend it.
And that just leaves the bath episode. Got back to my room, filled the bath. no soap but luckily I had some liquid soap for the hostels. Little light but I moved the table lamps and sort of made do. So, I'm relaxing in the bath...I hear the bedroom door come open. Hmmmm. Burglars? Wind? Neither seemed likely. I got out, dripping wet, put a towel round my waist, carefully didn't electrocute myself on the lamp on the floor, and saw...a cat! A big fluffy tabby cat, which was more startled than I was, and ran under the bed.
I don't know what the best thing to do is in this situation. I jammed the door a couple of inches back open so the cat could get out, and got back in the bath.
When I got out, the cat had gone. It did come back later, introduced itself and marked me as its property. It seemed happy enough after that.

ahem..
Drogheda, Ireland
this is only here to make the map look right!
written by  martin_b on April 21, 2007 from Drogheda, Ireland

Jurby to Point Of Ayre
Cranstal, Isle of Man
This map doesn't have Point of Ayre on it, so I've had to use Cranstal instead...
when I set off from Jurby for the coast in the morning, I knew it was going to be a tough day. I had 15 miles of beach to walk, and it was intermittently pouring down with rain, with gales.
I was kind of wet when I reached the beach, but it seemd ok for walking at first. There was a full-blown gale blowing off the sea, but I kept up an ok pace...until it started hailing. The hail came in horizontally, fired by the gale, hitting my left hand side. I figured "I'll just run up and hide in the dunes", but when I ran up the beach, there were no dunes, just a completely flat expanse of featureless land (must have been an old airstrip or something.)
So, Down one side I was soaked to the skin...so cold that I couldn't feel my left leg at all (I think the body cuts off bits of circulation after a certain temperature?) I was a bit worried at that point, because there was no escape route whatsoever. All I could do was carry on up the coast and hope. 6 or 7 miles on I knew I'd be rounding the corner, so might get some cover.
Eventually, an hour or more later, I could feel my leg again, and had partially dried out. It was still blowing a gale, but thankfully all the other nasty looking rain had missed me (I think it all falls on the mountains).
I was pretty elated when I reached Point Of Ayre, and felt I was on the home run. It was still blowing a gale, so it was a little tricky to get a good photo of myself looking happy!
...but i did get the lighthouse complex up there.
That was lunchtime...the afternoon got better...
written by  martin_b on March 18, 2007 from Cranstal, Isle of Man

Brussels is open again! Music, pictures, nuns and stuff
Had a nice continental breakfast with the daughter of the room owner, then set off to see some museums. Most of them are up the top of the hill, next to the Palace. Well, a palace, Belgium has several. I got soaking wet, not the best of days. I started off at the music museum in the Old England building. Here it is again as a reminder...
It's a reasonably well restored building, and apparently took a lot of rebuilding, reconstructing some of the original details. Sadly, the light levels inside don't work too well with my camera: they seem to be kept low to protect the instruments.
But the real star is the museum itself. There are probably 4 floors of different displays and historical instruments, and you get given a set of headphones. As you go round and stand in front of the displays, the headphones play music of the instruments you are looking at.
It's really an amazing place and I spent hours in there. I've never heard music like it before, and they seem to have a truly comprehensive and definitely fascinating collection.
The only room which is light is one in an adjacent linked building, which has some very curious compound instruments.
This place even has the best cup of tea in Brussels as well, in a nice restaurant on the top floor. They don't serve it with milk...and it's so nice you don't need it at all. I suspect from the crowds coming in for lunch that it may serve rather nice food too.
Most of the rest of the daytime was spent in the huge are gallery that's up with the palace. It's spread across 3 buildings, all linked together, and it would have been even bigger but some of it was closed to make a Margritte Museum.
A truly amazing collection, both old art and modern art, and lots of stuff by James Ensor. Ensor was a very odd man who started off drawing perhaps like Walter Sickert or Whistler, and ended up drawing quite quite mad comic art.
After that, it was pretty much time for tea. I walked in the direction of the People's Palace, and found the church of Our Lady (Sablon).
The bit I could see was dramatic, it's an excellent building, but unfortunately half the church was behind boards for some sort of renovation. However, I did meet a very nice elderly nun, who only spoke French but had a nice smile. She was very pleased that I'd asked her whether photos were allowed, which they were. I've never been thanked by a nun before.
After that I found a very nice area with lots of antique shops and bookshops and even stamp dealers (the Belgians do that sort of thing still). I had some mezze in a Lebanese cafe, and saw Brueghel's house in passing.
This was in the church at Kappellemarkt. They had a very different take on death in those days. guess it was just something you had to live with, not try to ignore as we do.
No cats at the B & B tonight.

just passing through...
I had planned today to look at the book of Kells in Trinity College, but the queue was massive, so I went straight by train to Howth.

Point of Ayre to Ramsey
Ramsey, Isle of Man
Well, the way up to Point of Ayre this morning had been hell, but the afternoon was wonderful. No wind at all, so much sunshine I could walk in a tshirt, a great beach stretching all down the coast to Ramsey.
In Manx terms the beach North of Ramsey was very popular, ie there were 5 or 6 people walking dogs. I even found one that was scared of hats, which may be unique. There is a known phobia of clothing (Vestiphobia), but not hats.
I just timed the trip right, because as I hit Ramsey the weather changed, and just as I sat down in a pub overlooking the harbour, the blizzard started. It was a grim pub (Ramsey is the industrial bit of the island, such as it is), but is was still heartening looking out at what I'd just missed!
(Ramsey was also home to the most unwelcoming Indian Restaurant in the world. They really really really didn't want me to eat there.)
written by  martin_b on March 18, 2007 from Ramsey, Isle of Man

Mostly cartoons
Well, the last day in Brussels, before moving on. I got a visit from another cat as I was packing up. It wanted to go out of the window, and sit on the balcony looking at the world below. Or maybe that was just the cat equivalent of borrowing a cup of sugar and it was just being nosey.
Anyway, I left it happily on the balcony, and went to round off a couple of last bits in Brussels. The main thing was the Comic Museum (Centere Belge de la Bande Desinee): there is a rival one, but I think this is seen as the best.
Once again, it's in an art deco building, not as dramatic as the music museum but still good. There are obviously cartoons everywhere, but it's very vibrant, and there are also some life size figures, which is quite fun.
There are also some little models of scenes from the life of cartoonists/animators. I think they're really well done.
And then there's the decor itself, of course.
Although many bits are obviously in French/Flemish, it's still well worth a visit: the humour and feel of the things comes across well, most of the time.

A day by the seaside, or something...
Howth, Ireland
Howth isn't exactly secret, but thankfully not too well known. It's an island just North of Dublin, connected now to the mainland and with a trainline. I did wonder why there were so many people on the train: I soon found out it's because Howth is such an excellent way to spend a Sunday.
The first thing you see is the harbour, very scenic.
In the water was this lone seal: I think it was a Grey Seal on account of the pointy nose. It seemed to be as interested in us as we were in it. Or maybe it was just hoping for fish.
By the side of the harbour, a mish mash of buildings, including places to eat. Walking a little further and there's a proper village tucked up a valley, with another Martello tower. St Mary's abbey sits on one side of it.
I looked at all that, then took a walk round the headland: it was a bit rainy, but there are nice views: this is Howth Head, with a view south to glowering cloud over the Wicklows and Dublin to the right.
3 miles or so if you don't get lost I think. I did get lost. This was a good thing though, because it meant I ended up walking the back way back to Howth Village, over the top ridge of the island. There used to be an old victorian estate here, and as I walked across I went through what was gardens with 400 varieties of rhododendron. Now, the variety is still there, but gone wild and mixed with the native gorses and woodlands, making one of the most pleasant bits of walking I can remember, with a final view back over Howth.
written by  martin_b on April 22, 2007 from Howth, Ireland

Ramsey to Maughold
Maughold, Isle of Man
A sunny day, but blowing a gale...but worrying as the direction meant it would be trying to blow me off the cliffs, rather than keeping me on, but never mind.
Here's the view from the first hill, with Ramsey in the far distance. See the huge wave? Thats where I tried to walk along the beach...I gave that bit up pretty quickly. In fairness there were loads of signs saying that bit of the path was closed, but I went for it anyway, in a sort of indignant I-know-best way, until luckily I saw the waves crashing in in time.
Looking inland, you can see how bad the weather had been the day before.
This is a fabulous bit of coastline: everyone on the island raves about Maughold, and I can see why now. These views don't do it justice.
It also has one of the oldest churches on the island, with a huge collection of wonderful old crosses, and the second oldest 3 Legs of Man symbol (sorry, wonky!)
The church was founded by monks from Ireland, 1500 years or so ago, and you can still see the foundations of small monastic churches, including this one with it's round tower (very Irish, trust me).
written by  martin_b on March 19, 2007 from Maughold, Isle of Man

A twerp in Antwerp
Antwerp, Belgium
Well, sorry to sound really geeky, but Antwerp has a far nicer station that Brussels. It looks like some sort of classical building, but inside it''s been seriously modernised, so a nice mix.
Antwerp is a very fashionable, shopping city. It has statues everywhere, for some reason, and clearly there's a lot more here than just tourist stuff. These elephants are on their way to the zoo :)
I walked down the main shopping street: it is impressively grand, as are the prices in some of the shops. I hadn't really read up on what I wanted to see, but I quickly found Rubens House.
This was very impressive, remarkable even, until you learn that it was almost completely rebuilt in World War 2. Only a few bits of the outside are real. Equally remarkable, but in a different way, and it did take the edge off.
The more I saw and heard of Rubens, who Belgians are very proud of indeed, the more I became to doubt the basis of the art we see in galleries. Rubens over-eggs his work, not because it's useful, but because that was what the rich wanted. The result is a style so overelaborate and contrived that any talent he might have had is concealed. He was clearly a man who was at home with politics and commerce, and worked the world to his advantage, but there must have been many more talented artists who didn't, and are forgotten today.
Anyway, I carried on down in the direction of the main squares. The cathedral here, which is also in the last shot, is way more impressive than that of Brussels: it soars up, and inside it carries on soaring, with even impressive ceilings. It is of course filled with overdone work by Rubens and his ilk, but never mind.
The main square is impressive, in the same vein as Brussels, but can't qute compete. It has a good try though! Nice fountain too.
I kept heading in the direction of the river, and eventually got there: it's called the Schelde, and it's roughly Thames size, perhaps. Quite impressively big, and the fact that the city is only on one bank makes it more striking still.
There's a maritive museum on the front, housed behind an impressively fairy tale castle.
Anyway, by that time it was getting wet and late, so I hid in an Italian restaraunt for a bit, then took a tram to the hostel. It looked quite good form a distance, lakes around it, and lots of greenery. Appearances can be deceptive, because it's a complete dump. The whole place smells, there's one internet machine, showers are miles from the rooms, and there's only one per sex anyway, dorms are huge, and as for breakfast, it might as well not be there. Bread and jam and cheese and tea basically.
While a lot of the faults are down to the location, so many of them could be solved by better management, very simply. There's no vibrancy at all. I could run it better.
written by  martin_b on June 27, 2007 from Antwerp, Belgium

The start of the walking bit
The walking bit starts, so what happens? It starts raining. Hard.
I started from my B & B in Dublin, and walked South towards the start of the Wicklow Way. I wasn't going to walk the whole thing, only as far as Glendalough. I went through a soggy Rathfarnham, saw a soggy looking castle in passing (didn't go in), then walked on.
Eventually, I got to Marlay Park, which is both where the Wicklow Way starts, and where it started raining REALLY heavily. So, like all experienced walkers, I hid under the noticeboard, wondering what I was letting myself in for. It's odd how the steps look dry in this picture. Honestly, it was pouring down!
Anyway, I eventually did set off properly...

Maughold to Laxey
Laxey, Isle of Man
More stunning coastline round to Laxey, which is a nice little very small town/village. It's in two halfs- I was staying at the lower half, with the harbour, while the upper half is where the shops are, and where the famous Laxey Wheel is.
This isn't the famous Laxey wheel, this is their spare one (honestly).
Laxey is really nice, but don't visit on a Monday if you expect to get food, because you will struggle.
Breakfast the next morning was a bit surreal as I discovered that my landlord at the B&B had been an art teacher at my old school while I was there. So we had a long chat about what he'd been up to, Oldham, Breeze Hill, and so forth.
written by  martin_b on March 19, 2007 from Laxey, Isle of Man

Printing and stuff
Antwerp, Belgium
Think I've already mentioned breakfast. I sat next to an American woman who had checked in at the same time as me.
It quickly came clear this was a very large mistake. She didn't like the hostel. She didn't like Begium or Belgians. She didn't like France. In fact, I'm not entirely sure she liked anyone in Europe. There may be some Americans she liked, but if so the list certainly didn't include an embassy staff who she seemed to think were engaged in some sort of conspiracy against her.
I did try to cheer her up with some positive comments, but I was pissing in the wind. God knows why she was in Europe, maybe she dislikes Americans even more.
Anyway, I eventually dragged mysef away from the nourishing breakfast and the eloquent uplifting conversation, and walked into the South West bit of Antwerp. A nice sunny day, and eventually I found myself at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts.
It's a mix of modern art downstairs (an excellent Belgian biased collection) and old stuff upstairs. While the new stuff was good, the old stuff was typically overblown Rubens and the like. No, I don't know what this represents...but at almost twice life size it's quite imposing!
After a slightly random further walk, very atmospheric though, I reached the Museum Plantin-Moretus.
This for me was one of the unexpected highlights of the whole trip. It's a courtyard house, that was the headquarters of one of the oldest printing houses in the world. And they kept everything. Every book, every receipt, every woodcut, and it seems almost every printing press even.
This place is astonishing, unlike the rebuilding of Rubens house, this is all original, down to the gilt leather covered walls in some rooms. Every room has some new wonders.
Below is the oldest print room in the world, filled with original printing presses, including the two oldest surviving in the world.
I spent a long time here. It's wonderful. Very hidden away though, you'd hardly know it was there from the outside.
After a further wander round the squares in the centre, that was about it. Some cinema in the evening (another wonderful Belgian cinema: I never realised we had such crap cinemas in England.)
written by  martin_b on June 28, 2007 from Antwerp, Belgium

15 miles to go...
Enniskerry, Ireland
The Wicklow Way is the easiest footpath I have ever followed. Every so often there are these little black way markers, and with a map as well it's pretty difficult to go wrong.
That was my thinking, anyway, as I set off on the long uphill stretch out of Marlay Park into the mountains. Marlay Park is a great little victorian park, slightly run down, with little bridges and lakes and things.
Climbing up Kilmashogue Mountain, everything was fine: the rain was keeping it nice and cool really. But when I got near the top, it got a bit dodgy. Suddenly there are paths in every direction, and I'm walking along a ridge, called Fairy Castle, hoping that the fairies haven't got me entirely lost. It's pissing down, right into my face, my glasses are wet and steaming up, there's no chance of getting a map out. The only thing that would make it worse would be some sleet hitting me in the face.
Eventually, the fairies let me loose, and I was sure I was on the right path. I did however have sleet hitting me in the face. Ho hum.
As I started to come down the other side of the ridge, the rain did start to peter out, and I could even see again, which helped.
I was making really good time still, down into the valley, and up the next hill, Prince William's Seat. There were starting to be some good views, too.
By early afternoon, I was thinking that I had broken the back of the day, not bad for 15 miles plus. I hadn't seen any walkers all day, but as I came down off Prince William's Seat there were a group ahead of me in the distance.
I caught them up pretty quickly: they were 4 lads from Dublin, walking and camping, and I walked along with them for a fair way. One of them was in the army, one (Aaron) had just left, and those two were strong walkers. Unfortunately the other two weren't, and they had a long walk ahead at the pace they were going!
They seemed a good bunch of lads, although I may have demoralised them saying I was only a few miles from my B&B with a nice hot shower!
The B & B was in Knockree, just off the Wicklow Way, maybe a mile from Enniskerry. Very unexceptional, but with the added entertainment of a mid-evening power cut.
Enniskerry is an unusual little village. It's near to the Powerscourt estate, so gets a lot of tourists. As such, although it's just a few shops around a square, it has loads of places to eat, and clothes shops and things.
It was here that I found out that Ireland has 2 sorts of lemonade, red and white. Red lemonade looks a bit like Tizer or something, and tastes different to white lemonade, but I'd be hard pressed to know what else goes into it. Definitely worth trying, but not quite sure whether I prefer it or not.
written by  martin_b on April 23, 2007 from Enniskerry, Ireland

The last day of walking! Laxey to Onchan
Onchan, Isle of Man
Almost there...nice weather and only a days walking to go. By this point, I was hardly noticing the weight on my back, I could just sprint along with it. A lot of today was road walking, not the nicest, but there were some good bits, especially Garwick Bay.
This was only a little bay, but I could have sat on that beach all day quite happily. And if you accidentally go up the glen afterwards, past the Private sign (well, I thought there was a footpath), you get to an abandoned wonderland. It has to be one of the most beautiful glens on the island, with a nice footpath running through, but otherwise looking so wild and fresh. After a while, I had to turn back, because the footpaths were blocked by fallen trees: it was clear this place used to be some sort of park or attraction, but had been abandoned not too many years ago.
I don't know how many gems are hidden, but I found an overgrown maze, and also this very curious cave (which was a bit wet: whether it really was a smugglers cave I couldn't say, and the sign was less than helpful!)
The next point of note was Lonan Church. Quite pretty but nothing special, except that when I went inside the ruined bit on the right, there was a party of walkers there. As I hadn't seen a single walker on the entire trip, that was quite exciting. I had a banana to celebrate. They had only come from Douglas, but walkers nonetheless.
And as I reached Onchan, Douglas appeared for the first time (since I left) in the distance. Nearly there...
written by  martin_b on March 20, 2007 from Onchan, Isle of Man

left overs...
Antwerp, Belgium
Well, good riddance to that hostel!
I made my way straight to the station, but had a while to wait for the train to Bruges, so I took around the streets to the North. I hadn't realised there's a whole new area up there, and I managed to find a fabric shop where I bought some fabrics for Wendy, very reasonably priced, and very Belgian I think.
Anyway, Bruges beckoned...
written by  martin_b on June 29, 2007 from Antwerp, Belgium

Glencree, and on
Roundwood, Ireland
A nice sunny start to the day, as I descended into Glencree. It's a wonderful valley, great views up and down, big U-shaped valley, a very scenic babbling stream, woody glades (no I don't know why I have no photos).
Climbing the hill on the other side, suddenly I rounded a curve and Powerscourt waterfall came into view.
I carried on along the path, and at the top of the waterfall hit the one bugbear with this walk: tree clearance. I don't mind walking through trees, and I don't mind walking across moorland. But here, vast areas of trees are being felled, and it feels like walking across a World War 1 No Mans Land. The path becomes very hard to see, and tree stumps could easily be leg breakers.
As I passed the top of the waterfall, I passed to walkers going the other way. Not talkative types though, just a vaguely germanic "Hello".
Then I started up the biggest mountain on the route, Djouce Mountain. It's big, and dark, and covered in cloud at the top. It started raining as I went up, but it was a hot day, so it was actually a blessing. I stopped just on the other side for a fig roll lunch.
I'd seen the Dublin lads in the distance just before, so I decided to push on and catch them up (it's nice to have a target to break up the day.)
So, I went switly up the hill, then at the top along a sort of raised planking thing which protects the moor from walkers. It makes for really fast walking, with fabulous views over the whole range, and I was soon looking down on the next valley, and running down the hill.
Sorry about the cheesey grin!
The lake in the bottom pic is in the bit of the Wicklows still owned by the Guinness family, and as far as I can tell still pretty much off-limits. It's a shame, because it looks like one of the nicest parts of the whole thing (no surprises there.)
I did catch up to the Dublin lads...you can see the edge of one of their sandwich wrappers in one of the photos. They had a looong way to go: I tried to break it to them that at the pace they were going they wouldn't get to Glendalough before about 8pm. I don't know if they made it, that was the last I saw of them. Maybe they are still wandering lost in the mountains....
Roundwood is not the nicest place in Ireland. It's a very small town expanding quickly, like most of Ireland. It's functional rather than pretty, and I wouldn't recommend it to visitors except for walkers. One of the pubs does serve interesting food, which may be German or Scandinavian, the latter I suspect. Lots of cold smoked dishes anyway. Good food, but not what I was expecting. Dessert was a very nice blueberry pancake though.
You know you're in trouble when your B & B landlady introduces herself with "welcome to Fawlty Towers!". Not the nicest place to stay, sort of run down. The shower worked fine until I switched it on, then fell off the wall. Getting clean thus became a sort of juggling act, as it wasn't the sort of shower you could hold easily, more prop in place.
written by  martin_b on April 24, 2007 from Roundwood, Ireland

Finally back at Dougls
Douglas, Isle of Man
It seemed to take an age to get to Douglas...plodding on and on...
That's what they call action photography!
But eventually, I reached the cinema, feeling pretty elated (but not too tired after 96 miles really.) Time for a cup of tea...
written by  martin_b on March 20, 2007 from Douglas, Isle of Man

Brugge=Bruges
Brugge, Belgium
Well, it soon became clear why this is the city tourists come to. It may not have more attractions than the other cities, but they are nicely squashed together: Bruges only has one industry, and it's tourism. Quite right too mind, every street is a historic delight.
It often feels like you're in Holland: they have clogs, canals, windmills, cute steppy roofed buildings...not much difference between my perceptions of the two, really. Which I suppose makes sense historically.
The hostel (the Europa) was a great improvement on Antwerp's...and while it's outside of the centre, as soon as you cross the canal you're in a really nice historic area, on a direct route to the centre.
And that's where I went...and found the beguinage, which is a sort of monastery. Every town seems to have one, but this one is special. It's so quiet, so calm and relaxed it almost makes you want to be a nun. Almost. There's a great round common in the middle, filled with slanting trees, and around it all these little old white houses. And the odd nun. Luckily not too many tourists make it round the corner, although we did have one exceptionally loud party of germans who were being very ignorant and taking no notice of the signs asking for silence.
Yes, a very special place, and there's also a little museum showing the insides of one building. Inside there was also a lady making lace, which is quite astonishing to see. the speed with which she moved the little bobbins is amazing, and how she kept track of where they all were I don't know.
Over the bridge out of the beguinage, the canals start, and views of the centre of Bruges start to appear. The cafe nearest to the bridge does excellent crepes!
Also special is Sint-Janshospitaal, the next place I got to. It was a huge complex, I think connected to the knights of St Johns, and inside is a fantastic pillared space, which was the hospital and now houses various treasures and artworks.
It seemed only proper to do the tourist thing and get a canal tour...this is the back of our driver/guides head...and that's me...the only pictures from the boat that didn't come out blurred, but it was definitely worth it anyway: it gives a very different perspective to the city.
This is the Smedenpoort, one of the gates to the city. I ended up here after a walk through the centre. It's a nice slightly upmarket area, and I had something to eat here in the early evening, and then thought I'd find a cinema. Now, there were meant to be two cinemas. I found the first one, but couldn't find the second. I eventually figured out this was because it had been turned into a theatre...and a curious one at that.
It's called The English Theatre of Bruges, and all the plays are in English. As I was the only customer at that point, I had a chat to the lady running the ticket office, who knew Stockport...small world isn't it. She had impeccable taste in music, and eventually we reached Scott Walker, who she knows better than I do! But then liking Scott Walker is a bit like being in some sort of secret club (like driving a Reliant Robin or something), so it didn't really matter. I'm not sure her marketing technique to new arrivals was the best though: "don't go into the theatre until the last minute, the music is awful".
Anyway, eventually the audience arrived/ reached double figures (just), and we all went in...she was right, the music was awful.
The play was called The Joy of Wine...it started off a bit dead, maybe because it's difficult to warm up an audience of 11 or so. But then somehow the offbeat very British humour started to make sense...and people started to laugh...and by the time we had reached the wine tasting I was cracking up. 10/10 for the play, and I hope the theatre succeeds, but the numbers are a bit worrying!
written by  martin_b on June 29, 2007 from Brugge, Belgium

Back to the UK
Heysham, United Kingdom
The Irish sea was like a duckpond as I went home the next day. Douglas and the island gradually disappeared into the distance...
...and then I got the most fabulous views of the entire Lake District, all standing out covered in snow. (Yeah, my camera didn't quite bring them out well!) Even Snowdonia was in view, if a bit small for photos.
And that was about it...
written by  martin_b on March 21, 2007 from Heysham, United Kingdom

a very special place...
Glendalough, Ireland
I'd only scheduled a short walk for today, so I'd have lots of time to look round Glendalough.
The walk itself was uneventful, except that when I was walking along the top of paddock hill, in a world of my own, I suddenly found that there were two hares right in front of me. I hadn't noticed them, and they must have been so immersed in sporting with each other that they hadn't noticed me either. They wheeled away from me without stopping, but they must only have been about 10 yards away, which is really unusual for hares. They usually just sit on the horizon looking at you, then run away just to be on the safe side.
Anyway, pretty quickly (6 miles doesn't take long to walk), Glendalough and the valley it's in came into view...and it was stunning. Those Irish saints weren't stupid, when they decided to set up a monastery in the middle of nowhere, they made sure they had the best spots!
I made my way down, and took a look round the visitor center first. This labyrinth clearly isn't very Christian...
The monastery site itself is in pretty good shape after a thousand years in an Irish valley in the middle of nowhere. It has a real air of calm about it, and you can almost taste the clear air in the pcitures.
This is a view over most of the complex. The high tower is something uniquely Irish, not existing in that form outside the Celtic church. There's no doorway any more, which just makes it look all the more mysterious.
This is the Cathedral. Not what we'd think of a such these days, but that was it. It was a spartan place, of cource, despite the beauty of the valley.
Walking past the main site, there are great views up the valley, plus some more isolated sites, and even a very classy waterfall.
This would be the place I'd most recommend visiting, from what I've seen in Ireland. Ideally, with hindsight I should have planned to stay a couple of days and use it as a walking centre.
written by  martin_b on April 25, 2007 from Glendalough, Ireland

More Bruges (ok I've run out of inspiration)
Brugge, Belgium
Well, this was the first thing I saw today...I stll can't figure out how these guys thought they could get this pane of glass, in a huge wooden frame, through the window they were trying to fit it to. It just didn't fit- I stayed aroudn a while watching the free entertainment, and waiting for it to break, but sadly it didn't, it just reached a stalemate with the glaziers.
This is a godshuis...sort of like an almshouse, Belgian style. They are still all over Bruges, although not all as cute as this one.
Just behind the cathedral there's another quiet spot: it's amazing how like sheep most visitors are, they never go off course.
It's quite beautiful, with the canal, little gardens and sculptures, and old buildings like these. This sort of wooden building is how Bruges used to look...but unsurprisingly it all burned down, so this one is about all that's left. They aren't allowed now.
I went into the cathedral after that. There's a museum bit at the far end, which not many people pay to get into, but it has these incredible early medieval painted tombs.
Like all of Belgium, Bruges has an impressive square, well two squares, with a big tower, which gives great views. Nuff said :)
I thought I'd see some of the less-known bits, so I went North East, along the canal. Boules was just an added bonus! It's quiet, but scenic.
Eventually I reached the canal round the edge of the city (sort of a wet ring road: I guess it started as part of the city's defences), and found this windmill. Quite nice, but a bit noisy: there's a real ring road just outside the wet one.
I went along the cnal for a bit and then went back towards the centre. I was feeling a bit hungy, so when I found a sweet shop it seemed a good opportunity. It turned out the owner only spoke Flemish...well, she was about 80. Nice lady, and her daughter helped. They had a curious and unsanitary sweet procedure. You had to pick the sweets you wanted out of the jars, and put them in a not very clean looking plastic container. She was so nice I felt obliged to buy some anyway, as she rambled on I think about how if I was canadian I'd have been able to speak French or something.
Anyway, the sweets were bloody awful! I guess the moral is don't buy sweets from sweet shops in Bruges that look like they are as old as the cathedral.
I felt quite ill as the evening went on, and struggled to eat what should have been a very nice north african meal. I later found out I had a stinking, chesty cold, so I can't really blame the sweets.
For the evening, I walked through a park in the South of the city, where there was a free festival on. It wasn't up to much though, so I carried on South, toward the cinema that the nice lady at the theatre had told me about the previous night.
She had her directions spot on. Unfortunately she didn't have a clue about distances so I was walking for aaaaages....and aaaages...and aaaages....
When I eventually got there it was (again) a superb facility. I saw Ocean's 13, which was just ok.
Walking back...11pm on the outskirts of a belgiam city, in the dark, few streetlights...I took a "shortcut"...it wasn't...I walked back again...I did reach the hostel eventually.
written by  martin_b on June 30, 2007 from Brugge, Belgium

Dublin once more
Later that day, I got the bus back to Dublin. I went back to the East Coast Swing lessons that evening, and had an excellent time. Two lessons gives enough steps to almost dance with, and I got the footwork enough that I could insert some Modern Jive moves. Hopefully they didn't look out of place, but who knows! I found some nice Irish girls who hadn't been before to use as Guinea pigs to practice on, which really helped my confidence (and probably gave them a better experience for their first week than most people have.) If only I could find a course in Manchester.
In the morning, I THOUGHT I had plenty of time to get to the ferry. I thought wrong...the bus took forever to get in to Dublin, and I arrived with just 5 minutes to spare. On top of that, I'd lost my ticket. Well, technically not lost...I distinctly remember throwing it out, thinking it was just an old train ticket. Duh.
In future, I will keep all crap until I finish the trip, just in case. Anyway, I did make it, just, and so it was bye bye Ireland.

Holyhead...nice from a distance
Holyhead, United Kingdom
Once the ferry got to Wales, I had some spare time, so took a look around Holyhead. The approach to the town from the harbour has been made pretty stunning.
The middle of the bridge has lots of round plaques...these two reminded me of the animals I'd seen in Ireland.
The town itself is fairly nondescript. Some nice sea views, and this church is on the site of Caer Gybi, the original Roman fort here. It's meant to have some nice stained glass inside by Burne Jones, but it seemed to be locked up.
Otherwise...one grubby main street, not worth bothering with.
written by  martin_b on April 26, 2007 from Holyhead, United Kingdom

a fine cold...
Brugge, Belgium
For the next couple of days I was really really suffering...I think it was just a cold, but it was really getting to me, very chesty. So I'm a bit vague, and didn't enjoy things as much as I could have.
Anyway, I went by Arentshuis, which has these classic Battle scenes carved into it.
Then I went in the Groeningemuseum, which has a small but perfectly formed art collection, before heading to the station...and Ghent.
written by  martin_b on July 1, 2007 from Brugge, Belgium

Ghent
Gent, Belgium
I didn't really get my head round Ghent, partly because I was ill, partly because I didn't spend enough time there. It's a funny city: if I was going to buy a house in Belgium, this would be the place, because it seems to be on the cusp between being a run down partly historic city and being the Manchester of Belgium. It's got history...maybe it's as nice as Bruges...it's got bars and student life, and modernity...and yet it's neither faceless like Brussels, nor defined by history.
And it definitely can't be seen in a day and a half! Not if you really want to understand it.
A quick tram in from the station got me to the main square: usual stuff, cathedral, belfort, really fancy buildings...
Here's the belfort, which I went up. I got in the way of a rather fast moving bunch of German tourists with a stroppy guide at the top. Personally, if I see someone enjoying the view, I wait until they have finished...not this guide. Anyway, it does give a very good view of a very big city.
And Ghent also has the most amazing hostel...it's brilliant! Right in the centre (2 minutes from everything), with a view you'd pay a lot of money for, modern clean rooms with only 4 beds a room, and a very nice breakfast the next day. Friendly staff too. These are views from the bedroom window.
Just round the corner, well a couple of corners, there's the design museum.
Quite dramatic, and it's pretty good inside too- I liked these art deco rooms.
And just round the corner again (lots of corners!), there's the famous Castle Gravensteen, which is pretty dramatic.
There are some stunning canals about as well: I didn't take the classic views, so you get these slightly less good ones instead.
In the evening, I found a particularly snooty Italo-Belgian restaraunt near the Brabantdam...the waiter clearly didn't want me there :-) It was very average, he had nothing to be snooty about.
written by  martin_b on July 1, 2007 from Gent, Belgium

and back again...
Stockport, United Kingdom
...and back to Wendy's house.
written by  martin_b on April 26, 2007 from Stockport, United Kingdom

more Ghent....
Gent, Belgium
Well, still feeling grotty, but after enjoying breakfast, I went and looked at the castle. It is quite plain inside, although with several displays about medieval torture (the counts weren't entirely nice people!)
The castle does also give some great views over the town.
written by  martin_b on July 2, 2007 from Gent, Belgium

Slightly wet...
Kortrijk, Belgium
I had to change train at Kortrijk on the way to Ieper. It's smaller than the big cities I'd been visiting, but with hidsight, it would have been nice to make space for smaller places like this. The town square has a nice bit of modern art, and there's a museum of some sort in the building behind. Sadly I didn't have time to explore, both because of train times, and because of that innocuous looking cloud. I got VERY WET INDEED.
written by  martin_b on July 2, 2007 from Kortrijk, Belgium