The Best Place in England

And the award goes to...(drumroll)...Brighton! To be honest, i haven't seen much of England at all but i really don't think it can get any better than Brighton. It's like a mini-san fransisco but filled with students. Similar architecture, sunny weather (hence the name), beach, hippies, organic food, alternative bars, you name it! I can't believe i've never heard of this place until very recently.

Brighton also has an amazing palace built by King Henry (the 4th i think) called the Royal Pavilion...you've never seen anything like this in your entire life - a palace built by a English Playboy Prince in a Indian/Chinese style to throw huge parties for his friends.

During my last night in Brighton, i attended a Divorce party. Yes, two people (who married 5 years ago, separated a few years later and now finally were officially divorced) were celebrating and decided to have a big party. To summarize: "Just Divorced" balloons, a Wedding-style cake but cut in half (with the groom on one side and the bride on the other), couchsurfers from all all over the world, lots of alcohol, 'Just divorced' speeches and skinny dipping at 2am.

On the way to london from Brighton i stopped at Stonehenge to take a few photos. I decided it was not worth the £6.50 for the entrance so i took photos from outside the perimeter fence (i love my new zoom lense). Was i impressed...not really...i've been spoiled by egypt :)


India? Guess again...


San Fran? Guess again...


It's Brighton!

Rains in Spain?

I've been traveling for the last week in the only place in Spain were it does rain quite a bit...and boy did it rain! My friend Djali and I started our journey in Galicia, the very north-west province of spain. Our first destination was Santiago de Compostela...a small beautiful town, famous for being the end point to the 'Camino' or Road to Santiago which is a month-long trek that starts in the Pyrenees. It's also famous for its seafood...which i endulged in from the moment i got there. The most famous dish is Pulpo (octopus)...yumm. The area is nothing like the rest of spain...it's hilly and very green...greener than seattle, greener than ireland...even the churches have moss growing on them. After a day in santiago, we met a very nice couchsurfer (luis) who took us on a drive all along the coast...magnificent cliffs, beaches, etc. Next was Vigo were i bought some fresh oysters from old ladies :) From Vigo we crossed the border to Porto, Portugal. I really liked this place...it had a very undisturbed decrepit feel to it- very charming. I spent most of my time getting lost in small side-streets and discovering little nooks here and there. My final day was taking tours of Port Wineries and port tasting of course. That's it...no story, just an update :)


Lonely Beach


Porto in B&W


Porto in Color

The Sandman

Old Port...3000EUR per bottle

Egypt - The End

Well, that's it. I've added some fotos to old posts below, but really they don't do the place justice. I must say Egypt is one of my favs. There aren't too many places in the world where you can look thousands of years in to the past, experience the desert, the sea, meet friendly people and explore a different culture all on the cheap.


Walk like and Egyptian

Sharm, Sharm, Sharm

After a very long and relaxing time in Dahab, i made my way over to Sharm el-Sheikh. My whole life i've heard nothing but great things from egyptian friends back home, but after arriving egypt i would consistently get the opposite message from other backpackers. So, i decided to check it out for myself. Sharm in a nutshell: Take the tackyness of Las Vegas and mix it will a beach town, add world class diving, great nightclubs (like Pacha which i went to last night), add lots and lots of Russians (the stylish and beautiful kind) and raise the prices to european standards. So i guess the like or dislike of Sharm comes down to what you're looking for in an egyptian vacation. For me, I place it at the end of the list, luckily i only budgeted 1.5 days here. On the up side, instead of staying at one of the resorts, im couchsurfing with a cool English guy who's been living here for two years as a diving instructor. Tonight, I fly back to Cairo to meet up with my buddy ahmed for dinner and then back to chilly dublin.

Relaxing in Dahab

So this place it is folks...the coolest place in world :) Ok that may be an overstatement, but Dahab is simply amazing. Imagine a small little town, lined with chillout restaurants and bars on the most beautiful red-sea water you can imagine. Add the mountains of Saudi Arabia across the sea and another mountain range behind the town. 350 days of sunshine per year, world class diving and windsurfing and packed with backpackers.

I met some cool russians who live here, mainly working in the windsurfing centers...tonight im invited to a BBQ followed by a firedance show...nice.