Well, I haven't blogged in ages, which is silly, because nothing annoys me more than checking my favourite blogs on an almost daily basis when they are only updated once a month or so. Not that it really matters, because I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog anyway. Which makes this the online equivalent of whispering my heart's desire into a seashell...
Anyway, the reason I haven't written anything in ages is that I went overseas for a fortnight. Which isn't very long, and I haven't updated in almost 5 weeks, but since I returned I haven't been sure where to start, and in typical slacker fashion simply haven't written anything at all. But carpe diem and all that, or rather, put off looking for a job by doing something else much less important! Quick(ish) details of my trip were as follows:
Depart Melbourne, change at Hong Kong, arrive London. Take the train to Paddington, try to call my mum on her UK number. Find out she emailed it to me incorrectly, lose a few pounds to the pay phone, sit on my bag and wonder what to do. Luckily, as in much of the civilised world, there are not one, but two pubs inside Paddington station. So naturally, I bought myself a genuine flat warm UK ale, and tried to work out what to do. The answer was simple. Go see what ales the other pub had on offer. Fast forward an hour and two slow pints; brainwave. Go to an internet cafe, get in touch with family via the interwebs. Bingo – their hotel is just up the road, crisis averted.
Go out to dinner at an Indian joint with the worst service ever, go to sleep. Wake up, catch Eurostar to Paris. Paris is brilliant, but not very beer related – although I will include at least one French beer review. Return to the UK three days later, hang out with my sister in her apartment in Brixton for 3 or 4 days – sightsee etc. during the day, start drinking ale as soon as the big and little hands are on the 12!
After a few days of catching buses and trains around London, decide we will hire a car and drive to Edinburgh, via the moors, then back down the west coast returning to London. I get to choose the place we will spend the night of my birthday – and of course choose a microbrewery/B'n'B, in Cropton (review to follow, it was brilliant.)
Tensions are running high by the final night of the car trip, especially when I lose us for 90 minutes in Birmingham's nightmare road tunnel system. Back in London for two nights, bum around Brixton and such, then back to Paddington, train to Heathrow, London to Hong Kong to Melbourne, and I'm back in my own house, in my own town, wondering whether blowing my savings on two weeks overseas while unemployed was a good choice (answer: yes – and I'd do it again, again I tell you mwuhahahahaha....)
So in a nutshell that was my trip – although of course there was so much detail, so many beers (and some whiskey too,) I've skimmed over. Next post: Paris by beer.
