mark his words

Monday, October 8, 2012

Into London and onto Europe

The flight from Miami to London was average, in terms of on flight entertainment, food and comfort, it was probably at the lower end, but it got us from point A to point B with no real issues. After arriving in London we were greeted with some fairly mediocre weather, all drizzle and clouds, and the chilly lows were a shock to the system coming from Miami.

Having spent a fair bit of time in London a few years back, I was keen to check out a few things I hadn't seen before, especially given I'd be showing my girlfriend Abby around a lot of the 'touristy' sites later in the week.

One of my friends from Australia, now living in London, was on holiday herself, and gladly offered her room in her London flat for me to stay. Situated in North London, an area I wasn't overly familiar with, I spent some time exploring Abbney Park Cemetary, a rather creepy cemeterary, overgrown with weeds in an eery unkept manner.

Abney Park

I also got to spend a bit time wandering through East London, notably Brick Lane, keeping an eye out for some of the amazing street art in the area. And, later in the week, indulging in some amazing curry. Other not-so-touristy highlights included getting to see my beloved Chelsea Football Club (again), this time in a Premier League game, after purchasing a ticket in an unofficial manner.

East London

Chelsea FC vs Stoke FC

A concept that's big in London, that I've since found out has only just occurred for the first time in Perth less than a week or so ago, is 'Open House London'. The idea involves many famous and some not so famous buildings, opening on one weekend a year, in order for the public to 'have a look around'. I'd done a bit of research and heard that the Lloyds Building was a definite highlight, so I braved a small queue to have a look around, and found the views and architecture well worth the wait.

Lloyds Building

With Abby arrving from Australia, we explored a few of the more 'conventional' London sights, which were still nice to see, although most of my enjoyment was garnered through Abby's enjoyment of seeing all of the below for the first time.

Big Ben & Houses of Parliament

Tower Bridge

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

St James' Park

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Cruisin' the Carribean

I had mixed expectations upon boarding our cruise vessel in Miami. Whilst both Harry and Mike had given me a fair rundown of ship activities, procedures, events, and cruise culture, that had been a completely different cruise company, in a completely different country. We arrived on time for departure, which it would become apparent, was a couple of hours later than the majority, as we queued, and queued, and queued, before being issued with the cruise equivalent of a credit card (all transactions on the ship are cash-less) and making our way onto the behemoth ship (110,000 tonnes, 290 metres long and with a combined crew and passenger capacity of over 4,000 persons).

Once aboard, we made our way to the first of many buffets available to us three times a day, every day. Eating is a massive part of the cruise it seems, and whilst the buffet offered food as good as I had seen in any buffet previously, it was only the tip of the iceberg, if you will, in regards to the amazing food on offer in the restaurant everynight. From haute cuisine such as lobster, frogs legs and escargot, to the more accessible fillet mignon, roasts, grilled chicken and every pasta imaginable, the ships dining offerred a level of decadence and induced drool to a level matched by any restaurant I'd ever been to, and best of all, it was free.

And that's the beauty of the cruise. Besides alcohol, any gratuity, and (optional) excursions ashore, practically everything is incuded. A health club to rival any back home, performances from stand up comedians (a bit hit and miss, but generally quite good), and the aforementioned cuisine were but some of what was on offer.

Our first port of call was Cozumel in Mexico. After escaping the slight tourist trap that surrounded the port (think Hillarys Boat Harbour), we were walking up and down the streets of 'regular' Cozumel. The juxtaposition of much more modest housing against the more lavish tourist areas was extremely noticeable, giving an insight into how important the tourist dollar is to Cozumel. I consoled my ill-thought out purchase of a sombrero (how the hell did I think I would fit that in my bag?) with a beer overlooking the ocean, made all the more enjoyable by FINALLY getting to say 'dos cervesa por favor' (two beers please).

Cozumel, Mexico

The next day we stopped in the Central American country of Belize. A thirty minute boat trip and we were at Ghost Quay Island. If you close your eyes, and picture your stereotypical deserted tropical island, you'll probably picture something similar to Ghost Quay Island. White sand, a handful of palm trees, and no more than 50 metres in diameter, the island was surrounded by turquoise blue water, with a rickety jetty, tiny shack and portable toilet the only manmade additions. With snorkel gear in hand, we headed about 50 metres off shore to the reef, before swimming amongst amazing sea flora and fauna.

Belize

After a day spent doing little more than swimming on the beach in Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, we were in the Cayman Islands, home to some of the worlds dodgiest bank accounts, and home to yet again some amazing tropical beaches. Going through an independent operator (much cheaper than going through the cruise), we got a lift out to Stingray City, where we spent a couple of hours swimming, holding, patting and even kissing (it was very weird) stingrays and snorkelling amongst even more amazing sea life. Post swimming with rays, we ended up catching some rays (ha!), as we chilled out on the catamaran's hammocks on our way back to shore. If it were ever possible to take a holiday during a holiday, this cruise was it.

Roatan, Honduras

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Miami

After a four hour bus ride between Orlando and Miami, we arrived to a very warm and cloudy Miami, making our way to the very Miami-esque named Bikini Hostel. For whatever reason, they couldn't put us all in the same dormitory, but before we had the opportunity to mention to them that we weren't bothered about being split up, they upgraded us to a Deluxe King Apartment. Not a bad start.

We'd opted to stay in South Beach, which is undoubtedly one of the best beach/tourist scenes in we've come across this trip. I have no doubt the place is usually teeming with tourists, but due to our September arrival (it's officially 'Fall' here now, and school/college has resumed), the crowds have distinctively died down. An amble along Ocean Drive and a walk along the impressively pristine beach itself was all the more enjoyable by not having to avoid swathes of tourists as we had done a couple of months ago in the very crowded (albeit entertaining) Venice Beach.

With palm trees, art deco buildings and neon lights lining the streets, the general look of South Beach still feels very Miami Vice orientated (or Grand Theft Auto IV).With several days of what was perhaps one of the most relaxing periods on our holiday, soaking up the Florida rays, swimming at the beach and in our hotel pool, playing table tennis and pool, we're leaving Miami for a week thoroughly recharged and acclimatized to our next adventure - a week long cruise through the Carribean.