Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Ryanair and the £1 Fare
For those of you who aren’t In-The-Know, Ryanair is Europe’s leading low-fare carrier. Patterned after Southwest in the US, Ryanair flies an entire fleet of Boeing 737s and are as bare-bones as you can get. For example, their seats don’t recline, the safety cards are printed right on the back of the seat in front of you, there are no seat pouches and they charge you for just about everything (drinks, snackies, checked luggage, and other amenities). If you have a flexible schedule and know how to work the system, Ryanair can be the absolute cheapest way to get around Europe. For example, Gav and I got £1 (equivalent to $1.89USD) airfares from Nottingham East Midlands, England to Dublin and again from Dublin to Brussels. Now that’s seriously hard to beat! Of course, we had to pay the taxes imposed by the British and Irish governments, but you can’t escape that stuff.
Cricket
editor's note: This blog was originally written and meant to be posted on Aug 30.
In addition to Creating Value™ , we've also been on the look out for Cutural Experiences. These could be as simple as trying a new dish (soul food in the south, fish and chips in London) or learning new slang.
While in London, Gav and I got introduced to cricket. I always thought cricket was some obscure game that was played in England and the rest of the commonwealth and that it was boring, and I was right. People are quick to bash baseball, but let me tell you ... cricket is boring stuff.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, we were treated to an intra-office match of cricket played by Her Majesty's Treasury. We met up with Ryan (who's Aussie) at his office and went
Ryan & Gav on the way to the cricket match.
Ryan, the batman, striking a bowled ball and successfully defending the wickets (he also scored a few runs).
In addition to Creating Value™ , we've also been on the look out for Cutural Experiences. These could be as simple as trying a new dish (soul food in the south, fish and chips in London) or learning new slang.
While in London, Gav and I got introduced to cricket. I always thought cricket was some obscure game that was played in England and the rest of the commonwealth and that it was boring, and I was right. People are quick to bash baseball, but let me tell you ... cricket is boring stuff.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, we were treated to an intra-office match of cricket played by Her Majesty's Treasury. We met up with Ryan (who's Aussie) at his office and went
Ryan & Gav on the way to the cricket match.
Ryan, the batman, striking a bowled ball and successfully defending the wickets (he also scored a few runs).
Loving The Lounge Life
editor's note: This entry was originally written and meant to be posted on Aug 31.
On our last night in London , Ryan took Gavin and I to one of the swankiest cocktail bars that I have ever been to, Lounge Lover. We were joined by his two friends Jesse & David. It was quite the way to celebrate the end of what was a great week and a half in my favorite city. We enjoyed wonderful concoctions and each of us shared stories from our travels around the world. Two Yanks and three Aussies in a foreign land, linked by a common language and all from former colonies of the British Empire.
On our last night in London , Ryan took Gavin and I to one of the swankiest cocktail bars that I have ever been to, Lounge Lover. We were joined by his two friends Jesse & David. It was quite the way to celebrate the end of what was a great week and a half in my favorite city. We enjoyed wonderful concoctions and each of us shared stories from our travels around the world. Two Yanks and three Aussies in a foreign land, linked by a common language and all from former colonies of the British Empire.
Party Party Party! That’s our Image!
editor's note: This blog was originally written and meant to be posted on Aug 29.
For those of you who might not know this, Gavin and I love ourselves a big-ass gay dance party and London has one of the best parties in the known world: DTPM. Happening every Sunday at the usually straight and very posh club, Fabric, DTPM combines the best dance music and the absolute hottest guys I have ever seen in one location (and let me tell you, I’ve gone to some great parties in my time!)
On three day weekends, or Bank Holiday Weekends as they are known to the British, DTPM turns into the crème dele crème of parties.
Gav, JL (who was visiting from Seattle/New York) and I met up with a few of our new London BFF’s and danced the night away. Good Times were had by all!
If you’re ever in London for a Bank Holiday weekend, I highly suggest you make DTPM part of your itinerary.
For those of you who might not know this, Gavin and I love ourselves a big-ass gay dance party and London has one of the best parties in the known world: DTPM. Happening every Sunday at the usually straight and very posh club, Fabric, DTPM combines the best dance music and the absolute hottest guys I have ever seen in one location (and let me tell you, I’ve gone to some great parties in my time!)
On three day weekends, or Bank Holiday Weekends as they are known to the British, DTPM turns into the crème dele crème of parties.
Gav, JL (who was visiting from Seattle/New York) and I met up with a few of our new London BFF’s and danced the night away. Good Times were had by all!
If you’re ever in London for a Bank Holiday weekend, I highly suggest you make DTPM part of your itinerary.
A trip to the British Museum
editor's note: this post was originally written and meant to be posted on August 29
If there has been one thing on our trip that I have enjoyed the most, I have to say that it’s drinking. J Secondly, I love going to museums. In each city that we make a stop in, we try to do something educational and visit an art gallery or do something cultural. (Gavin says that we pick the gems of each location, which I’d have to agree with.) We visited the Getty in Los Angeles, the Field Museum in Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Smithsonian in Washington DC and in London we had to check out the British Museum and National Gallery. The United States has some of the world’s premier museums, but there’s something to be said about a collection that dates back hundreds of years. I mean, you can’t even think of acquiring some of the antiquities that the British have in their collection. I’m not condoning how many of these items had come to rest in their hands, but I am happy that I can see them … for free. Talk about massively Creating Value™.
The most stunning thing about both the British Museum and the National Gallery is that they have entire collections of artifacts or paintings from a classic artist or time period. When most museums would be happy to have ONE mummy, the British Museum has about a dozen. When some galleries would be glad to possess a painting Well the British Museum has about a dozen. No joke!
Probably the most popular of all items in the collection would be the Rosetta Stone. If you’re not familiar with this very important artifact, it allowed linguists to translate ancient Egyptian writing into English (or French or some other modern language). For more detailed info, I suggest you look it up.
If there has been one thing on our trip that I have enjoyed the most, I have to say that it’s drinking. J Secondly, I love going to museums. In each city that we make a stop in, we try to do something educational and visit an art gallery or do something cultural. (Gavin says that we pick the gems of each location, which I’d have to agree with.) We visited the Getty in Los Angeles, the Field Museum in Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Smithsonian in Washington DC and in London we had to check out the British Museum and National Gallery. The United States has some of the world’s premier museums, but there’s something to be said about a collection that dates back hundreds of years. I mean, you can’t even think of acquiring some of the antiquities that the British have in their collection. I’m not condoning how many of these items had come to rest in their hands, but I am happy that I can see them … for free. Talk about massively Creating Value™.
The most stunning thing about both the British Museum and the National Gallery is that they have entire collections of artifacts or paintings from a classic artist or time period. When most museums would be happy to have ONE mummy, the British Museum has about a dozen. When some galleries would be glad to possess a painting Well the British Museum has about a dozen. No joke!
Probably the most popular of all items in the collection would be the Rosetta Stone. If you’re not familiar with this very important artifact, it allowed linguists to translate ancient Egyptian writing into English (or French or some other modern language). For more detailed info, I suggest you look it up.
A Boy Named Ryan Robertson
It was a year ago when I got the call from Seattle that a dear friend has passed. How could someone who meant so much to me and also someone who I really looked up to suddenly be gone at such a young age? Now I stand here one year later and I am still filled with the same questions and feelings which still linger. I miss you now just as much as I ever did and wonder how you were always able to cast your spell on me and leave me just as (if not more) bewildered than I ever have been before.
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