wanderlust – Jason likes to travel

A wedding in Washington: the honeymoon!

Hello dear readers! How are things? I was really starting to get in to a blogging groove for a moment there but then ironically the little wedding series was put on pause for a a trip to the US in April.

There was me thinking I’d post again shortly after getting back and yet here we are, almost three months later without a blog post!

Admittedly another trip in May didn’t help. This wasn’t really on the cards for the year and certainly not in the budget but Tottenham in Bilbao for a European final was too tempting to dismiss and another football trip to Spain beckoned – this time with European glory at the end of it!

There is SO much I could say about that experience and believe me I will but that’s a story for another day, for now it’s back to the wedding trip! My other love!

Last time around I wrote about our special wedding day, if you’ve missed any posts in the series you can go back and read them but after a day of celebrating with our loved ones it was time to go and celebrate on our own.

I promise after this trip I’ll stop mentioning the C word, this was the last trip where it had a significant impact, but Covid made it hard to plan much in terms of a honeymoon.

We at the very least wanted to get away for a few days and decided we’d begin married life by popping over to Oregon for a few days.

Our trip didn’t get off to the best of starts. Firstly, as those who read the last post will know, we’d already had to change our plans and unexpectedly check out of our hotel in the early hours of the morning.

We went out for breakfast with the family and then a few people swung by the house to congratulate us again before we hit the road but the consequence of all this was our morning ended up being very jumbled and we weren’t really prepared to hit the road. The result of that was we left with Haleigh not really having much of anything for the trip. Oops!

We said our goodbyes, made our way out of town and shortly after came to the realisation we’d need to make a detour to pick up a few things. So our first honeymoon stop was the infamous Tri-Cities to do a bit of shopping! After a quick shopping detour, we hit the road again and stopped off in the Dalles for a late lunch / early dinner.

Truthfully I don’t know what there really is to do in the Dalles but it’s a convenient stopping point between Portland and Walla Walla. We ate at ‘Cousins’ which is a popular little restaurant in the area, serving up hearty American dishes that go down pretty well. On this occasion they sat us in the bar area which has a different vibe from the main restaurant area but it was still a good place to stop and enjoy dinner.

Between the Dalles and Portland is the scenic Columbia River Gorge – a beautiful drive alongside the Columbia River. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I don’t think any of my photos would do it justice but it’s such a pretty part of the Pacific Northwest.

I think this drive is pretty in any weather but unfortunately we didn’t have the best of weather for our journey. As we inched closer to Portland, the sky seemed to get darker and darker and the rain was pouring down. The treacherous conditions weren’t helped by having a fancy new car with a million different gadgets which seem to be customary with all cars these days.

We’d decided to rent a car for our trip which was the right decision but we probably weren’t as well equipped for bad weather as we would have liked. Which button gets the wipers to work? Which button makes the car lights come on? How does this work? Ideally these aren’t things you want to learn on route when the weather is miserable but we (Haleigh..) got through it and eventually arrived at our AirBnB – a tiny home in the Beaverton area of Portland.

We got ourselves settled in to our cosy surroundings and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We didn’t really have any plans for Portland, we’d been here previously and the trip was more about enjoying some time together. The downside to long-distance is obviously so much of our relationship has been spent apart and the first couple of weeks of this trip we’d been busy with wedding things and lots of company so it was just nice to have the time to ourselves.

It’s probably for the best we had no plans because we woke up to find snow on the ground. At the time it was the latest date on record that Portland had ever had snow. One of the few things we’d planned was a sunny daytrip to the coast and naturally the weather put some doubt on that idea – in the end we ended up extending our trip by a few more days.

Breakfast at Black Bear Diner, Beaverton

We kicked off our trip with a visit to the ‘Black Bear Diner’ for breakfast. I don’t think we realised at the time that they were a fairly big chain of restaurants, I certainly didn’t, but they had promising reviews online and were close to our AirBnB.

The funny thing about dining in America is often how large their portion sizes are and ridiculously that was something Black Bear Diner actually pride themselves upon. They have a little ‘gazette’, which doubles up as its menu, where they boasted about how many to-go boxes they produce.

The breakfast was good but it was way too much food and the idea of that being a bragging point kind of tickled me – “our portions are so big, you’ll have to take some home!” – seriously, why!?

The rest of our day was fairly chilled, literally I suppose because the snow had certainly caused its havoc. We’d considered visiting Pittock Mansion only to find the road up to it was closed and we looked at a couple of other things with a similar dilemma. In the end we made the best of the bad weather and took a stop by the Lloyd Center Mall so Haleigh could pick up a couple of bits – having only really bought summer-y outfits the previous day in the Tri Cities.

Sadly I thought the Lloyd Center felt a bit representative of Portland. It’s a decent sized mall with decent shopping options but the place was deserted and felt like a ghost-town. I think I saw more of that side of Portland on this trip. It’s always given off that hipster, edgy, run-down kind of vibe but I definitely felt it leaned more towards run-down this time around.

I imagine Covid had played its part in that but it felt like a struggling city. The number of homeless people and number of tents on the side of the road was staggering – unlike anywhere I can recall visiting – including on our last visit to Portland.

Perhaps other cities do a better job of hiding it, perhaps I was oblivious to it the first time around but Portland’s struggles felt much more noticeable on this occasion. The homelessness felt out-of-control and with that in mind it’s probably unsurprising the mall was then so empty. Obviously shopping habits have changed over time too but who’s going shopping when the population can’t even keep a roof over its head?

We had a relaxed afternoon before grabbing dinner back in Beaverton which is an area of Portland we both really liked and I’m glad we stayed in. After dinner we went and checked out a nearby brewery who were hosting a trivia night so we popped along for some Disney-themed quiz. I didn’t think my Disney knowledge was that bad but I was pretty hopeless and little help to Haleigh. Some kind folk did buy us some drinks though as “newlyweds” so that was a nice perk and the brewery was pretty nice too.

The next day we swung by OMSI – the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I think it’s one of the best places to visit in Portland. We’d been here on our previous visit and checked out a few things already, this time we were keen to take in another planetarium showing which was good fun. Afterwards we had a little wander through Portland and Beaverton but it was another pretty chilled day.

We finished off our day by visiting a place called ‘Ex Novo’ who served up good beer and pizza which was pretty good – although again we’d made a mistake in our choice to get separate servings when we could have probably shared between us. One of the greatest things about this place however was the playlist!

I’d joked in my last post that we’d caused an uptick in Madness’ popularity Stateside after delighting our wedding guests with their music (HA), so imagine my surprise when I’m sat there sipping on my beer and Madness randomly come on! After murdering the dancefloor (you guys know Sophie Ellis-Bextor too, right!?) at our wedding, I felt vindicated! Madness rule supreme!

It’s worth adding that I’d seen a Leicester City flag on the wall at the first brewery we’d been to in Beaverton so the Brits are definitely leaving their mark on the area!

The next day we had to check out of our AirBnB. We’d extended our trip but couldn’t book extra nights where we were staying so had to venture over to a new AirBnB in the St John’s area. The area itself wasn’t as nice as Beaverton but it was a better AirBnB with more space than our tiny home so that was nice.

Between checking out and checking in, we ventured over to some pottery / paint place and created a couple of fun little mugs. Haleigh’s effort was much better than mine but given I have zero creative talent I was happy enough with my attempt!

After getting settled in to our new AirBnB, we went over to watch Haleigh’s uncles bowl in their bowling league which was a blast to the past. Me and my sister would frequently spend many a Monday night ‘watching’ our parents bowl in their weekly league. It was a fun evening and, unlike my childhood, I could enjoy watching them bowl whilst simultaneously enjoying a beer or two!

The next day was again pretty chill, we didn’t do anything particularly exciting until the evening when Haleigh’s Uncle and Aunt played host and had us over for dinner which was really nice. Our AirBnB host had gifted us a bottle of wine so we took that with us too! It was nice catching up so soon after the wedding and definitely one of the perks to having family in the Portland area.

Having extended our trip by a few days, our final full day of the trip was spent at the coast. We’d held out hope that the weather would improve and fortunately we were met with beautiful blue skies on our way over to Lincoln City – somewhere else we’d visited on our big summer 2018 trip!

We were looking forward to a day by the beach but Haleigh was also insistent that we return to the restaurant, Mo’s, for their famous clam chowder – “for lunch and dinner” – and I had no intention of upsetting the wife (that’s right, I said wife!) this early in to our marriage so two trips to Mo’s was on the itinerary for the day.

We arrived in to Lincoln City around lunchtime and immediately made way for Mo’s, somewhere that had had a bit of a makeover since our previous visit. It was now much tidier in its lobby area and also much more accessible friendly which was cool to see and of course still home to some delicious clam chowder.

Whilst Haleigh has visited many times over the years, I’d only previously been here the once and that was in August so it was kind of nice visiting in April out-of-season and wihtout the summer crowds. There was a much more relaxed vibe about Mo’s and the coast.

Inside Mo’s restaurant – Lincoln City, Oregon

We had a seat inside by the window and I could have spent a long time just sat there looking out and admiring the view. It’s a lovely setting and in April felt particularly peaceful.

After lunch we drove on down to Depoe Bay, a cute little town nearby with a pretty harbour and a few seafront shops selling bits and pieces. Haleigh was keen to visit Ainslees and acquire some salt-water taffy. I’ll be honest, I don’t really get the fascination with the stuff but I guess American’s would probably feel likewise about going to a British seaside town and having a stick of rock.

Whilst Haleigh was splurging on taffy, I had a little wander and noted that there was a little shack offering whale-watching tours. We decided as a treat to ourselves we’d go on one of the tours.

As it was, we didn’t see any whales on our tour. Nevertheless it was still nice to spend an hour or so out on the Pacific ocean, particularly on such a glorious sunny day. We missed out on the whales (who we’d agreed must have taken a lunch break) but it was still a lovely boat outing.

After our boat trip we drove back up to Lincoln City and stopped in at the ‘Christmas Cottage’, a Christmas shop selling all sorts of Christmas-related items, as you do in April..

We then spent a little time on the beach, making sure to dip our toes in the ocean. The beach itself is wonderful – nice and sandy and clean. It felt nice being at the beach in April, even moreso having started the week with snow!

We dipped our toes in the Pacific ocean!

Following a little more time at the beach spent people-watching and dog-watching (we got chatting to a couple who’d taken their puppy to the beach for the first time ever and was understandably excited!), we went back to Mo’s for dinner.

This time rather than clam chowder, I opted for Cod or Halibut or some other type of fish on the menu, I can’t remember. Sadly a final dinner rounded off our time at the coach and we made our way back to Portland for our final evening of the trip.

The next day it was back to Walla Walla – this time driving along the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge with much better weather than at the start of the trip. The views are stunning and there’s some nice little stops along the way.

We drove past Multnomah Falls, which we’d stopped at on a previous trip, but did take a little detour via Horsetail Falls which we made sure to pull over to enjoy fully. Again, this was undoubtedly helped by being out of season but it was much more peaceful and less touristy than our stop at Multnomah had been in 2018.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. The weather was smooth pretty much all of the way until we got back to Walla Walla and found more of the white stuff – the snow had seemingly deserted Portland and made it over to Washington. We made it back safely though and settled in for what was theoretically my last week in Washington.

A glimpse of Malta!

Hello dear readers! I was just starting to get back in to the swing of things and posting regularly and then a pesky trip went and got in the way! What a travesty, right?

Admittedly, I could have been better prepared and had something scheduled and ready to go whilst I was traveling but let’s not get carried away! Committing to writing one post a week is a miracle without thinking about being prepared enough to write beyond that.

Anyway, the consequence is I don’t really have a “proper” post to share with you so I thought I’d give you the short and sweet version for now and we’ll write about this trip in more detail at a later date.

Those of you connected with me on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter will have seen that I was in Malta last week. I said in my travel round-up post at the start of the year that I was itching for some Winter sunshine and after narrowing it down to a few options, Malta seemed like the best of them.

It’s funny how often we’ll set ourselves criteria for a trip and then wind up booking a trip that falls a bit short of that.

Let me say, my main criteria was to go somewhere with warmer and sunnier weather than England so Malta ticked that box at the very least.

I was thinking back to the Algarve last year and craving something similar, which meant discounting somewhere like Morocco, because I was craving something relaxing.

I definitely found time to relax in Malta still and enjoyed the weather of course but ironically I think one of the things that swayed me towards choosing Malta was the balance between having a nice hotel to relax at when I wanted to, whilst still having a destination that offered more.

And it didn’t disappoint. I’m going to blog about it in more detail at a later date but I’m glad I ended up going to Malta, it’s a great country to visit and theoretically it’s somewhere I’d go back to.

I don’t know when because there are other places I want to return to and a million other places I haven’t yet visited that I’d like to visit someday but I’d never rule out returning to Malta.

Anyway, I’ll blog about it in more detail at some point but for now I just want to share some photos from the trip.

View overlooking the Ggantija Temples – apparently the oldest in the world!

That’s a wrap for now! If you haven’t been to Malta or considered visiting before, I’d highly recommend it!

It was a lovely week away and I left with fond memories which is all you can ask for from any trip.

Until next time!

Jason

Walla Walla – November 2021

Hello dear readers! How’s it going? I’m really getting in to a bit of a blogging groove again now so hopefully you’ll see the posts continuing to hit your feed or inbox with some regularity!

I used the last blog post on Moses Lake as a bit of a segue in to this one as it kind of ended the Moses Lake chapter of our lives and subsequently affected this trip too.

On my last trip to Moses Lake, myself and Haleigh had got engaged so the next steps of our long-distance relationship were to get married and then we could finally start thinking about beginning our lives living in the same place (England).

With a Septermber (2021) wedding drawing ever closer, there were other decisions to be made in terms of our future. Haleigh was teaching in the US at the time and as the end of the school year was approaching, Haleigh had to decide whether or not she was committing to another year and simultaneously decide if she’d commit to renewing the lease on her apartment.

In a perfect world, it didn’t make sense to go another year. Consequently Haleigh left teaching at the end of the school year and also gave up her apartment that she’d called home for the last four years, with the plan to temporarily move home and stay with family in Walla Walla.

Alas, this was not a perfect world. Covid continued to wreak havoc on any planning and it became clear that with a US border in no rush to re-open, I wasn’t even going to make it to my own wedding. The US border remained closed and we were forced to push our wedding back and postpone until 2022 with the hope that things would be better by then.

It was a difficult period of change, particularly for Haleigh who’d now been left in limbo a little bit. In hindsight she might have done another year of teaching and not moved out of Moses Lake but unfortunately the situation was out of our hands and Covid always found a way to wreak havoc and made making future plans incredibly difficult throughout these strange times.

Sure enough, soon after we’d postponed our wedding it was confirmed that the US border would be re-opening in November. Haleigh had luckily been able to visit me earlier in the summer but we hadn’t seen much of eachother and it had been over 18 months since I’d last stepped foot in the USA and abruptly said goodbye to Moses Lake. I’d set aside some time in the hope that the border might re-open for Thanksgiving and luckily it did!

From a life perspective, that period of limbo was hard and as I said particularly so on Haleigh. However from a travel perspective, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited at the prospect of spending some significant time in Walla Walla. Whilst I mourned the lack of farewell for Moses Lake and how abrupt that departure had been, I’d only ever really spent time in Walla Walla either visiting family or having Haleigh show off her favourite spots in the area. Haleigh had found temporary employment back home and that meant I’d definitely have some time to explore the city on my own!

First I had to get there. I maintain that 2021 was worse for travel than 2020 was. You kind of at least knew where you stood in 2020. The next year was just a bit of a shit-show with ever-changing restrictions and border openings and closures and it was so much faff trying to do anything. I’d booked the Ireland trip pretty last minute because of the UK’s “travel light” system and as excited as I was to get back to Washington, the anxiety of trip-planning made you question if travel was even worth the effort. For a relationship? Absolutely. For travel enjoyment? Absolutely not.

What are the entry requirements? Do I have to quarantine? What are the restrictions? Are the restrictions likely to change? Who do I book a Covid test with? Will I get the results back in time? Will the US be content with the test results? Will British Airways cancel my flight? How long is it going to take me to get through security?

I ticked off everything I needed to do and made my way to Heathrow which was nothing short of a shambles and truthfully, no better in early 2022 either.

My saving grace was that I hate being late which meant Heathrow being busier and more chaotic than I’ve ever seen it didn’t really matter because when you’re hours early for your flight, you have wiggle room for the nonsense.

Heathrow was a mess and I don’t think it helped that the self-service era of travel means you find a lot of people don’t really know what they’re doing. I sympathise because I always have that trepidation at baggage drop that I have no idea if I’ve done it correctly, I’m always conscious I’m going to arrive in my destination and find that my luggage hasn’t left England or worse that it has but I’ve somehow inadvertently sent my luggage to Timbuktu.

I waved my baggage off, hopeful we’d be reunited later that day and then made my way to security which was also a long experience. I eventually made it through, still with time to kill, because I’m not one of the maniacs turning up four minutes before a flight and blaming the airline / airport for missing it. Honestly, how are you not panicking the entire time before departure?

Things were surprisingly smoother on the other side of the Atlantic. I was anticipating further chaos and the usual border-patrol interrogations I receive Stateside but I recall this being one of the stress-free custom experiences I’ve had on US soil. You had to do a lot of the document / Covid verification before travel and maybe that was why but it was bizarre in a country I’ve often faced hefty interrogation.

At last the stress was over, if nothing else I was in Washington State after a good 18 months away. I still had to get from Seattle to Walla Walla but if anything went wrong there, I could figure out a plan B.

If ever there was further proof needed that car is king in America, this is it. Sometimes Haleigh would pick me up at the airport but given the distance, the need to pass over the mountains and the potential weather disruption and then also work commitments I’ve often made my own way to Moses Lake. I’d usually been able to get to Moses Lake quite easily and could catch a bus directly from Seattle to Moses Lake, sadly there was no such luxury for Walla Walla.

I’m sure there is a way of doing it on public transport with several transfers spanning many hours but it’s much more of a chore getting to what should theoretically be a much more touristy city. There isn’t much to Moses Lake really but it’s conveniently located along one of the major highways in the state, Walla Walla is much more charming and its wine industry is BIG but it’s more of a ball-ache to get to so naturally the transport links are rubbish.

My only option was to fly across the state which meant catching another flight out of Seatac and hanging around in the airport for a little while. I had plenty of time to kill because again, how are any of you comfortable with a short layover? I’m an optimist by day but I prepare for worst case when it comes to travel.

With time to kill I went and found a little bar and grabbed myself a beer. Unfortunately I was robbed soon after.

Alright, let me clear that up. Robbed is perhaps a bit extreme. I ordered a beer and thought little more of it until I was ready to move on and then I asked for the bill. I don’t know if it was the long gap between trips to America, maybe I’d forgotten how expensive it is Stateside and moreso in airports after 18 months away but I looked down at my check and the amount read $12.

“What do you mean!?” – Twelve dollars for a beer! 12!!

Plus tax, naturally. That took my beer up to $13.20 in total and I scoffed how expensive a local beer could be. It’s not even like it was an out-of-state beer that needed shipping over, this was an Elysian beer based out of fucking Seattle!

As if $13.20 wasn’t enough for a solitary beer, I was then in America wasn’t I? Am I supposed to tip here? What’s the tipping etiquette on airport robbery? If you’re not paying your staff a decent wage whilst charging $13 for a beer than you should be in jail.

After tipping (I know, I know..) I barely got change on the $20 and took my grumblings to Twitter. It was time to find somewhere cheaper that might only want a kidney in exchange for a hot meal before my flight.

The flight over to Walla Walla was a late one but short. All in all it takes roughly an hour but you’re only in the air for maybe 45 minutes or so. It’s nice and easy, much nicer in the daytime when you can enjoy some of the views over Washington but soon enough I’d landed with Haleigh waiting for me. I landed around midnight so it was straight to bed from there with Sunday pretty relaxed and spent enjoying some time with the family.

Monday morning rolled around and with Haleigh working I was up and ready to go and explore Walla Walla solo for the first time. I knew my way around Walla Walla a little based on previous visits with Haleigh but there’s something to be said for exploring a place on your own and on foot too!

As I said earlier, Walla Walla is charming. Moses Lake holds a lot of good memories for me and I did grow attached to it but from a travel perspective, there is no contest as to which is the better place to spend your time. I adore Walla Walla, how could you not!?

I made my way downtown and downtown Walla Walla is just lovely. It only consists of a few main streets (one unsurprisingly called Main Street) but it has a nice collection of restaurants, shops and 41,782 or so wineries with wineries outnumbering* the locals.

*Probably.

Truly, Walla Walla is famous for its wine. After California, Washington State is the biggest producer of wine in the USA and this is the city to enjoy that wealth of Washington wineries.

Ironically, Haleigh’s hometown is somewhat wasted on her as she isn’t really one for alcohol and although I am partial to the occasional drink, I’m by no means a wine drinker so this wasn’t something we’d ever done on any of my previous visit to Walla Walla.

Nonetheless, I had time to myself and “when in Rome” I figured why not? As tempted as you might be to head straight for the wineries, I grabbed myself a light breakfast at a nearby cafe first and figured I’d then see what all the fuss is about.

The most difficult decision you’re going to face in Walla Walla is where to begin? I joked that the wineries perhaps outnumbered the locals but to offer some actual context, Walla Walla is a fairly small city. Its population is around the 30,000 mark and yet more accurate Google searches will tell you that there are roughly 120 wineries in the Walla Walla area! Why so many!?

The downtown is FULL of wineries and there’s a good number a little further out of town too but without the means to get around, I figured that the 20 or so downtown was probably a good place for me to start. After whittling that down to those open on a Monday I was still left with far too many options or any idea on which to start with! In the end I settled upon visiting Spring Valley.

I’ll start by saying I know nothing about wine. My knowledge extends as far as knowing red and/or white were likely on the menu for the day. Fortunately my host was much more knowledgeable and placed a number of wines in front of me before delving in to the history of the winery, wines and the inspiration behind them.

It was a nice experience. I think it would undoubtedly have been better with company but my friendly host made me feel welcome nonetheless. I’d recommend it for any visitors to Walla Walla and the wines tasted nice to a novice who admittedly knows nothing about wine.

Not content with a “one and done” approach, I figured I should at the very least check out another winery for comparison. Whilst Haleigh isn’t a big wine drinker, the rest of (my) family are much happier wine drinkers and I figured a bit of market research on their behalf wouldn’t go amiss. Unsurprisingly I didn’t have to go very far before stumbling upon winery number two.

I won’t name and shame winery number two because I don’t think the tasting experience is necessarily catered towards solo drinkers but the room itself was a little more intimate, I was the only person tasting and it was all a little more awkward as a result.

My host didn’t quite have the same charm as the previous winery which in addition to my own lack of social skills and lack of wine knowledge just made for an uncomfortable visit all round. I think company would have made all the difference here but it was a quiet Monday in November – hardly tourist season – and so between the two of us we muddled on by until I put us both out of our misery, finished my wine and got out of there!

Reviews online are much kinder for what it’s worth and I think the awkwardness probably wasn’t helped by having to entertain someone with no real care for wine. I’m sure a beer tasting would have been much more enjoyable and less awkward for us both but there was no comparison between the two wineries that I’d been to. The wines at both were nice enough and I now wasn’t opposed to drinking wine – with what had been a red-heavy afternoon – but I settled on that being enough for today.

After a wine-heavy day so far I figured I’d better go and fill myself up with something more substantial – ~~beer~~ lunch! I popped over to what has become a little favourite of mine in recent times – the Red Monkey.

The food in all honesty is nothing exceptional – it’s standard pub fare but I like the atmosphere, the staff have always been friendly, they show some live sport which is nice and the selection of beers is always pretty good. I probably didn’t need the latter – particularly not knowing what my limitations were with wine but c’est la vie.

Due to the time of year, by the time I’d made my way back to the house it was fairly dark and it’s probably safe to say that the wine had caught up with me. As a first-time wine drinker I’d surpassed my limit and was starting to feel the effects. I’m not a bad drunk really, I’m not violent or aggressive nor am I any of the worst traits of drunks you sometimes encounter.

I’m generally a sleepy drunk, sometimes a soppy drunk but Haleigh put this firmly in to the category of “stupid drunk” and I think her sentiments were largely along the lines of “my boyfriend’s an idiot..” – fortunately I crashed soon after so despite the “luxury” and “fortune” of being the one and only ever witness to wine-drunk Jason, I think she was rather pleased to be rid of me for the night!

After sleeping off the effects of Monday’s wine antics, Tuesday was much more relaxed. I don’t think I really did much before me and Haleigh spent the evening together. I didn’t get many photos on Tuesday but my photos suggest that we must have gone out for dinner together on Tuesday evening – wine was not on the menu!

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving so Wednesday to Sunday was largely filled with Thanksgiving and family festivities. This was Thanksgiving number two for myself having attended my first in 2019 and missing 2020 for obvious reasons.

We spent most of these days out at one of the grandparent’s house, eating good food, playing games and mingling with the family. It’s always nice getting together and seeing how Thanksgiving is done Stateside. It’s a big holiday and with a big family, it’s always a fun occasion! 2020 remains the only year I’ve missed it!

We spent most of Friday out at the Grandparents again but on Friday we did escape for a couple of hours and headed downtown for some food at another local favourite – Wingmans!

One of the highlight of this visit was bearing witness to the infamous “Apple Cup” which is contested around Thanksgiving every year. College football is so popular in the States but every* November the two big Washington colleges go head to head. The University of Washington (Huskies) face off against WSU (Cougars) for the Apple Cup and local bragging rights.

Much of the family are WSU fans and t seemed so was the large majority of Wingman’s who were showing the game on TV so the place was full of people cheering on the Cougars with a few outliers. It was fun to see a bit of local rivalry in full swing and a really fun atmosphere to boot. The Cougars ended up winning this year which went down a treat both here and back at the house.

* They’ve shamefully moved this fixture so that it no longer falls over Thanksgiving! It’s sad to see that tradition lost! I’m sure for the Washington natives it’s an important clash at any time of year but as an outsider, it was a special part of the Thanksgiving festivities. Who really cares about the “Apple Cup” in September?

Sadly come the end of the weekend the holiday fun was beginning to wind down and people were making their way back out of town and heading home. We had a last breakfast together on Sunday but then people were on their way.

Originally the plan was for me to do likewise but I just wasn’t ready to go and ended up extending my trip a little longer.

Thanksgiving week just always goes so quickly. Particularly with Haleigh working on this occasion too. It felt like we’d barely had more than five minutes together, *cough* not helped by wine-drunk Jason *cough*, and then my trip was over. As fun as the week is, I wanted longer in Washington and fortunately could make it work for a few more days.

So rather then leaving, I stayed. Haleigh still had to work unfortunately but it gave us a bit more time together and myself a bit more time to have some fun in Walla Walla. Another Monday to myself gave me the opportunity to visit another winery.

“Oh no Jason, didn’t you learn your lesson?”

Don’t worry, I did! I grabbed some breakfast and then figured I’d check out one final winery, just the one this time though! See! I did learn my lesson!

This time I opted for the Mark Ryan winery right on Main St which had stood out previously. I’m sure in the summertime this is a lovely winery to visit as it has a little outside seating which would be perfect for people-watching but at the end of November, not so much. It still is a lovely Winery though. This week’s host was friendly and despite again being the only person wine-tasting, I’d still recommend this as one to visit. Although it’s worth reminding you that my wine-knowledge is non-existent so my winery recommendations are on nothing but vibes alone!

Keen to avoid wine-drunk Jason making a reappearance, I did stop at just the one winery. With 120-odd to visit, I hadn’t seen many but I’d seen enough for this trip and done my share of the “market research” – the remaining wineries would be down to the family to visit when they come to Washington!

I spent the rest of my day mooching around town, grabbing some lunch and having a little wander. The perk to staying a little longer was the Christmas decorations were starting to make an appearance and Walla Walla was starting to look quite Christmas-y. Myself and Haleigh rounded off the day by grabbing dinner at ‘Hop Thief’ across town (technically in neighbouring College Place) where you can pour your own beers so that was a fun outing!

The next day was pretty chilled, relaxing around the house before a busier Wednesday. Beyond the wineries, there are probably two main attractions in Walla Walla. The Whitman Mission, which Haleigh had taken us to on my first visit, and then ‘Fort Walla Walla’. which is an old military fort which was my main stop for today.

It depends where you’re staying but ideally you’re probably going to want a car to visit both of these attractions – definitely for the Whitman Mission but I figured Fort Walla Walla was probably reachable on foot. One of the nice things about Walla Walla is that it is mostly flat.

I made some stops along the way. One of the busier roads in the city has a few fun little things on the side of the road that I’d passed in the car many times but I figured this was a good opportunity to see some of them up close. I then stopped for lunch at a bar on the outskirts of Walla Walla before venturing over to Fort Walla Walla.

It’s an interesting place with varying exhibits, some temporary and some permanent. I was mostly interested in seeing the permanent exhibits and outbuildings that tell you more about the history of the place.

Given the overwhelming number of wineries in the area I did somewhat chuckle at the jail for the drunks. The irony wasn’t lost on me either that it was donated by a fellow ‘Reid’. A donation for our drunken sins perhaps.

Anyway, it was a fun visit and I’m hopeful I’ll get back there soon as I think they currently have a World War exhibit going on which sounds interesting.

Nothing notable happened with the rest of my day, nor the rest of my time in Walla Walla really. Myself and Haleigh tried to make the most of our time together as this’d likely be the last we’d see eachother before the big ol’ wedding trip in a few months.

One of the fun things we did do with our final couple of days was check out some of the Christmas decorations around town.

Unsurprisingly, American homes go all out in terms of decorations and some even go as far as putting on a full lights show accompanied by music. Christmas rave anyone?

Sadly on Saturday morning we said our goodbyes and I caught the early 5am flight out of Walla Walla. There is a later flight out of Walla Walla so there are pros and cons to catching the early flight. The con is obvious, it’s a bloody 5am flight. Who wants to be up that early in the day? On the flipside, it means a longer layover in Seattle.

I knew I’d arrive in to Seattle a little after 6am and I wasn’t flying out of Seattle until a little after 6pm which meant I had almost half a day to go and have some fun in the city. Alaska Airlines pushed my baggage straight through to London so I didn’t have to worry about it in Seattle which was all the more reason to head in to Seattle and explore for a few hours.

The one thing I really noticed on this flying visit was the difference between “after dark” and “before light”. I’d been to Seattle before and spent time in the city after dark on previous trips and it doesn’t feel like an unsafe city. I appreciate that some of that is circumstantial and my experience is going to be different to others but I have few qualms walking around any big city late at night. I’ve rarely found myself in a situation where I’m uncomfortable.

However before light is another city entirely. The links from the airport in to the city are pretty quick so given it was early December, it was still pretty dark by the time I’d arrived downtown and let’s just say that the city has a little more character at that time of the morning. I think it’s the first and maybe only time I’ve been in Seattle and it’s felt a little sketchy to me and I was sure to be a little more aware of my surroundings.

I went and found myself a place to grab breakfast, I’d heard good things about Seattle’s five point cafe – a nice little diner in a good location downtown. At the time, the Covid restrictions were a little stricter in Seattle than the rest of the state so this was a hangout spot for the vaccinated only and I did see a few grumble in the short time I was there. It’s a cool place to start the day though and I enjoyed my pancakes and tea!

I hadn’t committed to any particular plans but after breakfast I wanted to go and do something fun. Despite its reputation for bad weather, I’ve often said Seattle’s reputation is unjust. Whilst I’ve visited Washington many times, I haven’t spent huge amounts of time in Seattle itself but it is invariably always sunny when I do. I’ve convinced myself that the Seattle weather is a myth!

Alas, this was one of the rare occasions that the weather gods have let me down and it was a bit grey and dreary with a little light rain. I figured today would be a good day to visit one of its indoor attractions. Unbeknownst to me, most of them don’t open until 10am! What’s that about!? Like, wake up Seattle!

Ordinarily it wouldn’t be a problem, I don’t typically make it habit to be out and about at the crack of dawn but it’s a tad inconvenient when you are and nowhere is open. I’d been to Seattle’s MoPop museum before and didn’t really fancy visiting the Space Needle on a cloudy day so opted to visit the famous Chihuly Gardens and Glass museum which also opened at 10am. I loosely wandered a little but mostly spent the time awkwardly loitering and waiting for the doors to open.

View of the Space Needle from the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum

For what it’s worth, it was a good decision. I hadn’t visited before but I think this is another must do in Seattle. Chihuly is a little more famous in this part of the world but has exhibited his work globally and it’s easy to see why. I thought it was a fascinating museum and one I’d probably return to.

I could have probably spent longer there but I was a little conscious of time and wanted to grab some lunch somewhere before making my way to the airport. All in all, it had been another lovely trip to Washington that went far too quickly as it always does. It was time to go home. The next time I’d be visiting Washington, I’d be getting married. More on that soon.

Until next time!

Jason

Cork – September 2021

Hello dear readers! It has been a little while since I wrote anything about an actual trip but some of you might remember a while back I kicked off the first part of my Ireland trip in 2021. You can give that a read here but having navigated a few days in the capital, I was off to explore a new city – Cork!

In truth I hadn’t fully intended to end up in Cork. The basis of this trip was a long overdue visit to Dublin but I had the best part of six days to enjoy and figured I could do a few nights in Dublin and a couple elsewhere. I pondered a few options before deciding I probably wanted this trip to be split between Dublin and Galway.

Alas Galway was super expensive, Cork was less expensive and with a wedding on the way the bank balance won this fight. Visiting Galway would have to be an adventure for another day in the future.

Having confirmed my plans for this trip, I then flew out to Dublin which I found pretty underwhelming. Before even getting to Cork I was kind of ready to go home and given I was flying home from Dublin I did consider whether I could even be bothered heading South only to return to Dublin a couple of days later. However changing my plans at the last minute proved to be too costly so in the end I rather reluctantly hopped on a train to Cork – out of convenience and acceptance as much as anything else.

From what I remember the train journey was quite pleasant. Ireland’s a pretty country, very green and it was easy to admire the views along the way. Although I didn’t seem to get any train photos which is quite unusual for me when traveling by train so I guess I was less enthused about it at the time. I do however remember being tickled at passing by Tipperary and getting a screenshot to mark our presence on Google Maps – we were seemingly not a long way from Tipperary at all!

Eventually I arrived in Cork which is a surprisingly hilly city – hillier than I’d anticipated anyway. I was staying in the Northern part of town, the hillier side, which meant any time I wanted to venture in to town it would require some downhill/uphill back and forth but the hotel itself was a nice enough location in a quiet neighbourhood. I thought the view from my room was nice too.

Having procrastinated leaving Dublin for most of the day I didn’t get to Cork until early evening. I pondered some dinner options and decided to visit the Fransiscan Well Brewpub which I’d thoroughly recommend. There was a nice beer garden with some food options and some delicious beer – a great place to kick off a Friday night in Cork.

I hung around for a couple of beers and some pizza but it was a mostly quiet Friday night for me. The brewpub was a great location and had a fun atmosphere but I wasn’t really in the mood for solo drinking so had a little wander and then tucked myself in for an early night – ready to explore Cork properly the next day.

I say explore loosely. There wasn’t anything I really wanted to do in Cork. Whilst my enthusiasm for Dublin was rather lacking, I at least ticked off a few attractions to make my time in Dublin somewhat memorable. There are also things that I missed in Dublin that I could happily do if I ever went back, I had a long list of things to do in Dublin.

In contrast Cork had nothing that really piqued my interest – it’s quite a small city and one of the main things people visit the area for is to see and kiss the Blarney Stone. However my understanding is the only way to really see it is held upside down off a ledge and I wasn’t all that bothered about seeing it. Had it been in central Cork I probably would have taken a look but I didn’t really care to see the stone and certainly not enough to travel a few miles out of town only to be suspended off a ledge upside down. Although given the times and the number of people it shares kisses with, I can only imagine the stone was masked up anyway!

Jokes aside, my plans for Cork were non-existent. I intended to wander a little but the biggest appeal was the change in scenery. New streets to walk, new restaurants to eat at, new pubs to frequent and hopefully some live music somewhere along the way for the real Irish experience.

Naturally I kicked off Saturday with an aimless wander in to town for a first proper glimpse of Cork. The River Lee splits the city and I’d say Cork is perhaps a little prettier on the eye than Dublin. My first notable stop of the day was the “famous” English market which I’d heard good things about and is certainly worth a visit if you’re ever in Cork.

The thing that surprised me the most was that it was bustling with activity – aided by being a Saturday no doubt but I could only really look on with a little envy. Comparing to back home in Peterborough who’ve neglected and demolished its city-centre market it was hard to fathom how a smaller city in Cork had one that was the envy of many a city and town in England and maybe many in Europe too.

In the upper section of the market is a small cafe selling snacks and refreshments so I found myself a rare vacant seat, ordered myself a sausage roll, some tea (naturally) and enjoyed watching various shoppers below me come and go. It’s a genuine delight in the heart of Cork and a space its locals are fortunate to have.

From there my time in Cork was largely uneventful. It’s somewhat ironic but I’d intended to visit Dublin in 2019 and then in the interests of my mental health as much as anything, I bailed at the last minute. Two years later I’d at least made it to Ireland but truthfully, my heart wasn’t really in this trip either. I tried to make the best of the time away but the English Market was the only noteworthy thing I did whilst in Cork.

The major difference between Dublin and Cork is that I’d come here with no expectations. Cork had nothing to live up to so the fact I did nothing noteworthy didn’t really matter in the end. I found myself a pub in the city centre with hopes of watching Tottenham’s lunchtime game. Alas the pub had neglected to maintain its sports subscription so its claim to being the “pub to watch Spurs” was somewhat misleading. I did meet a friendly Spurs-supporting barman but we had to settle for discovering Tottenham’s misfortunes via internet updates on our phones.

With no food menu and no football to watch (which was probably a blessing on the day) I moved onwards. Cork’s city centre is largely made up of a shopping district with pubs and restaurants scattered among it. I grabbed lunch somewhere but the rest of my day was then rather uneventful. I squeezed in a short nap back at my hotel before heading back out for dinner and some night-time entertainment.

After dinner I went and found myself a bar with some live music on which was probably best described as ambient. It’s worth nothing that Ireland were still trialing coming out of lockdown and this was perhaps best reflected in this moment.

Dublin was no different but was still attracting tourists that made it feel a little more lively after dark. Despite being a Saturday night, the entertainment (here at least) felt a little more off. It just didn’t feel right, forced perhaps. I enjoyed a couple of drinks nonetheless, I think Covid forced you to make the best of things but this really wasn’t Cork in all its glory. I called it a night and headed back to my hotel for the evening – also somewhat lifeless so went straight up to the room.

I had a nice lay in the next morning, helped by having nowhere to be. Had there been anything worthwhile doing with my time in Cork I might have wandered back in to town but the downhill / uphill shenanigans swayed me from bothering. With a quick look of the train times I stopped off at a pub on route to the station – my first of the trip to fail the Covid requirements infact,

I’d become quite accustomed to the “Covid Pass – Mask – Table – Repeat” routine but not here.. I think they were just happy to have any custom to be honest and forewent the need to follow the rules and didn’t seem to care if I’d been vaccinated or not. I only stuck around for one anyway and then it was back to the train station and Northbound to Dublin.

I didn’t get in to Dublin until late afternoon so there wasn’t time to do much other than grab my last bit of Irish pub-grub before finding somewhere with some live music. I checked in on a couple of different pubs, including a favourite from earlier in the trip. I hadn’t loved Dublin but I’m glad that I had one last adventure in its Temple Bar district before heading home.

Rather than stay in central Dublin, for my final night I opted to stay in a hotel near the airport.. I enjoyed a couple of drinks around Temple Bar before accepting my time in Dublin had come to a close. I hopped in a taxi towards my hotel with a happy Irish chap who talked my ear off for the entire journey. I’m glad to have met him and have that be my lasting memory of my time in Ireland. It was a nice way to end the trip before flying home the next morning.

Looking back I still don’t really know how I feel about Ireland. To some extent it ticked boxes – I was supposed to be getting married in Washington, Ireland was therefore the perfect destination to drown my sorrows and feel a bit sorry for myself.

On the other hand I don’t know that bad circumstances are enough of an excuse for this trip. Despite suggesting I was only there to drown my sorrows, I genuinely went to Ireland with the best intentions. I wanted to enjoy my first visit to the country. The fact that I didn’t leaves a sour taste and no, that wasn’t the alcohol!

It’s hard to judge Ireland knowing that my head wasn’t in the best space, Covid restrictions also played a part in my experience there but I ask myself if I’d go back and my gut feeling says I wouldn’t be bothered either way. I just didn’t warm to Ireland as I’d hoped or even anticipated that I would.

All that said, despite my lack of enthusiasm for this trip I did still do some fun things. I came home with some fond memories and it wasn’t all bad but compared to some really memorable trips, this was a relatively forgettable one.

Sometimes that’s how it goes. There have been other destinations that have taken me more than one visit to warm to and maybe that’ll be the case for Ireland too. Maybe it’ll be third time lucky but I don’t look back on this trip with any real fondness and truthfully it was a bit of a slog to write about.

It’s easy writing about the fun trips but I think as travelers, bloggers, content-creators, influencers or whatever you want to call yourselves it’s also good to share the trips that also weren’t particularly special.

I’m always conscious to remind myself how fortunate I am and acknowledge that not everyone has the luxury of being disappointed in a destination but at the same time, not every trip is a winner and that’s definitely where this one falls. Nothing disastrous happened, there wasn’t anything that spoiled the trip but I also didn’t love it.

I still wouldn’t discourage anyone from visiting. Ireland still has a lot to offer and I hope it’ll win me over the next time I visit but for now, that’s a wrap!

Until next time!

Jason

Amsterdam – May 2019

Hello dear readers!

Do you ever get those posts where you just can’t spit the right words out? It wasn’t my intention for this to be my next post but I was trying to write up part two of the Köln trip and it just wouldn’t come together. I enjoyed the trip but I’m just not enjoying writing about it.

So a change of plans, here’s Amsterdam!

Strangely though, you can still consider this to be somewhat of a ‘sequel’ to that Köln post. Between visiting Köln in March and visiting Amsterdam in early May I’d actually been to three different countries but this is still perhaps the “next chapter” of an unbelievable story.

I hinted at this in my last post but I knew back in 2019, maybe even earlier than that, that change was coming my way. I was feeling good about things with Haleigh and knew that at some point I really wanted to go out and live in the USA. There was no specific date in mind but “as soon as possible” was the aim.

The only thing that stopped me doing it any earlier was balance. I’ve always been quite sensible with money but I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my enjoyment just to get to my end goal a little bit earlier – balance was a must!

So I meticulously mapped out the first six months of 2019 (read me) knowing that come July I’d be in a healthy enough financial position to really think about what was next, without having to sacrifice any fun in the first six months of the year.

I calculated that I could squeeze in trips to Köln, Washington, Helsinki and Dublin in the first half of 2019 if I was strict enough with my spending but I’d left myself no wiggle room. That was it!

Enter Spurs..

I often joke that football supporters probably hate the game more than those who claim not to like football. The game is rotten in so many ways that infuriate you as someone who cares about the game and, many of those reasons are ultimately part of the reason why I’ve since walked away from the game and cut down on attending.

Anyway.. Köln was my way of bowing out of European football. I had this inkling that it’d probably be my last European football away trip for quite some time, maybe ever? My priorities were changing and so it was quite bittersweet that my big finale ended up being a third trip to Dortmund.
You can’t moan about traveling to Germany really. The last couple of years in particular make you appreciate the luxuries we have but moan I did – “fucking Dortmund!”

I’d told myself that this decision came down to how willing I was to gamble. I knew this was the last season I’d be likely to do this so it was either Dortmund in the last 16 or I’d have to gamble and hope we reach the quarter finals and get a better away trip in the next round.

However I knew that there were no guarantees. It could be Dortmund now or Barcelona in the next round, in contrast it could be Dortmund or nothing. There was every chance we’d crash out of European football and that’d be my plans shattered. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d made assumptions only for Tottenham to disappoint me.

This wasn’t one of those occasions. Tottenham comfortably beat Dortmund 3-0 in London and it looked like the tie was over before we’d even got to Germany – “are you kidding me Spurs!?”.

I still had some nerves for the return fixture in Dortmund but in reality, unless Tottenham did something very stupid (see why I was nervous!?) we were very likely to be in the next round. We finished off the job in Dortmund and so it turns out that I could have waited a round. I could have gambled!

They soon did the draw for the next round and I took some solace with the knowledge that our next opponents were none other than Manchester City. If I’d gambled away four nights in Europe and had to settle for a European trip to Manchester I would have been beyond gutted – the only fixture more anti-climatic than a trip to Dortmund – we play in Manchester at least twice a year already.

The other piece of comfort was that this draw meant that this was the end of the line for Spurs. This was going to be our last European games of the season and not a trip I was going to have any regrets about. Manchester City were, and still are, far superior to Tottenham and there’s only one possible outcome to this tie. Dortmund was a 50-50 tossup but City? No chance! 85-15 in City’s favour and that’s if they have a bad day.

I don’t want to overwhelm you with football chatter so if you haven’t worked out where this is going already, catch up!

Tottenham weren’t supposed to win this tie. There are a multitude of script-like factors that played a part but fate was with Spurs and they did in fact beat Manchester City – qualifying for the next round in the most spectacular fashion. Tottenham were off to the Champions League semi finals.

I’d told myself I wasn’t going to a semi final. It was never in consideration. There was no wiggle room in my budget for more than one football trip so it was always either the round of 16 (Dortmund) or gambling for a quarter final (Manchester). The only exception I would make in addition to that would be a trip to Madrid for the final and let’s be clear that is NEVER going to happen.

The semi final happened to overlap with my mum’s birthday and that was further cause to stick by my commitment. I travel a lot but it’s rare that I’d miss a family birthday – I have no responsibilities, I can travel any time of year and I don’t particularly mind missing my own birthday but let’s be at home for the others if we can help it, eh? So I’d have to miss this one.

“I’m not doing the semi final, I’m not doing the semi final. I’m.. fuck!”

This wasn’t supposed to happen! I mean you really couldn’t make it up. I’ll turn 34 this year and for the bulk of that time Tottenham have inflicted misery upon misery over me. I wouldn’t change it for anything but that’s the reality. So in typical Tottenham fashion, even when things are going well they find a way to completely inconvenient me.

I was ready to leave my job, ready to head off to Washington for a while and Spurs threw me a curveball. You couldn’t have done this in any of the previous ten years of European football Spurs?

“I’m not doing the semi final” was a lot easier to commit to when hypothetical but an actual Champions League semi final? The only other time Tottenham have played at that stage of the competition was 1962 – this was literally once in a lifetime stuff. How could I possibly not go to Amsterdam!?

My hesitancy cost me. It’s not a mistake I usually make. Football travel 101 – you book your travel as soon as you know the game is confirmed, worry about the accommodation later but when you’re competing with thousands of other people for the same journey you don’t hang about!

I’d stupidly kid myself that I wasn’t going to Amsterdam and I suffered for it. I slept on the decision for two days and by the time I came to my senses, flight prices and Eurostar journeys from London had gone through the roof. Amsterdam is normally pretty cheap to travel to from the UK but not when every other Spurs fan is planning the same journey on the same dates.

Even for a Champions League semi final, it was hard justifying some of the prices I was seeing. Do I really want to pay this much for this trip when I could go to Amsterdam a week later for a fraction of the cost – it’s so hard to justify but this may never happen again.

I compromised, I really couldn’t justify paying stupid prices for journeys way beyond their usual value so I looked at another alternative – how much and how long would a coach take?

Amsterdam wasn’t in the budget but I couldn’t miss it so took the budget-friendliest option I could. Overnight coach from London to Amsterdam, overnight coach from Amsterdam to London, one night in a hostel in Amsterdam – let’s do this!

I booked everything and then had to send an awkward email to work. I don’t know how many of you have been guilty of this but I was on holiday in Washington and having to send my manager an email to request time off for another holiday. “I know I’m away at the moment but..” – such cheek!

A couple of weeks passed by and it was time! This was quite possibly the most ludicrous weeks of my life because I came back from Washington and started getting excited about Finland – my bank holiday plans I’d made at the start of the year.

I flew home from Helsinki on bank holiday Monday, went to work on Tuesday and then on Tuesday evening I made my way down to London Victoria. I’d been in the country less than 24 hours before running off again – quite absurd!

I grabbed some dinner on route and then picked up a couple of other snacks for the journey – best get comfy for the next 12 hours!

I wasn’t sure how busy or comfortable the journey was going to be so was quite pleased to get a window seat for the journey – towards the back of the coach with “the cool kids”. It quickly became apparent that I wasn’t the only Spurs fan on board which was an added bonus. At least half a dozen around me were also making the budget trip to Amsterdam and feeling optimistic about our chances. We’d lost the first game 1-0 in London but all was still to play for in Amsterdam.

With a lot of football chatter it made sense to keep tabs on Tuesday night’s other semi final. Barcelona had beaten Liverpool 3-0 in Spain but playing at Anfield on a European night? You never know..

With Liverpool 1-0 up and all to play for in the second half, I managed to get the game up on my phone. Let’s see how this plays out, shall we?

Liverpool turned it around, from 3-0 down to 4-3 winners! Anfield’s magic had struck again and produced one of the greatest comebacks you’re ever going to see in European football. It gave the few of us some real optimism for Amsterdam. It’s only 1-0, this tie really isn’t over yet!

The football had helped pass some of the time. Soon enough we were at the channel crossing and ready to go to mainland Europe! I wasn’t sure how we’d be crossing and had assumed by ferry but as it turned out we went over via the channel tunnel – a railway shuttle service for vehicles.

By the time we’d crossed in to Europe the mood of the bus was vastly different. The early excitement of a football adventure had been swapped for opportunist sleepers, hoping to catch a bit of shuteye before the morning. I dozed a little myself but not too much as we made stop-offs in Antwerp, Eindhoven and Utretcht. Antwerp the city that perhaps most caught my eye from the little I could see at night-time.

We continued on through the Netherlands at a rapid pace. I don’t know if the coach drivers happened to be Tottenham fans themselvess but we arrived at our bus stop in a neighbourhood called Duivendrecht two and a half hours ahead of schedule – fantastic as far as I was concerned!

Fortunately I’d been to Amsterdam before so whilst I wasn’t so familiar with Duivendrecht itself, I knew roughly where I wanted to kick off my trip – Amsterdam Centraal station please!

Amsterdam at 6am is quite the sight, a treat even. I hate waking up early when I travel but I also love seeing a city before it has had the chance to properly wake up – a bit of a dilemma but this was an occasion where I had no choice. I didn’t have a comfy hotel bed to curl up in so my only option was to have a wander along Amsterdam’s deserted streets.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city to enjoy regardless but getting to see it with nobody around was that little bit more special. I know I’ll never see Dam Square this quiet again for instance.

I had nothing I particularly wanted to do with my time in Amsterdam, it was a short and sweet trip and most of it would be preoccupied with football. I wandered off and made the most of Amsterdam being so quiet, capturing a bunch of people-free photos as I wandered around.

With places actually starting to open I soon went and found myself a little Amsterdam cafe to sit and get some tea from. I had made plans to meet up with a couple of friends later in the day but I had the morning free to myself.

After a second cup of tea I meandered on over to Amsterdam’s ‘MuseumPlein’ – home to a park and some of Amsterdam’s most famous museums. It’s a pretty area so wasn’t an entirely wasted walk but it turns out that the likes of the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum were fully booked – it seems football fans aren’t completely uncultured hooligans and the thousands of Brits in town had had a knock-on effect.

I did some more wandering of Amsterdam’s canals before finding myself a place to grab some lunch. By the time I’d finished I was able to head over towards the hostel I was staying at for the night and check in. I’d stayed at Amsterdam’s Flying Pigs hostel before and although I don’t tend to stay in hostels as frequently anymore, for one night it seemed pretty ideal to be somewhere central and somewhere I also knew.

I checked in to my 6 bed dorm around 1ish and proceeded to find two near-dead Americans who weren’t able to rise from their beds and were still suffering a bit from the night before. They’d got caught up with the influx of Spurs fans in town on Tuesday night and seemingly suffered the hangover that followed. A couple of others sharing our dorm also turned up and we mingled about our various plans before I bid my farewell – extending an invitation or warning perhaps dependent upon your perspective.

“Dam Square..” – come join the party or avoid at all costs but either way it’s going to be busy and it’s going to be loud. I left my hostel dorm and I could hear Dam Square before I could see it – the English have arrived.

The beers were flowing, the Brits were serenading Amsterdam – Glory glory, Tottenham Hotspur. The rest of the afternoon was spent embracing the atmosphere and catching up with friends – Daniel and Natalie had also made the journey over to Amsterdam and so here we were in yet another country for Spurs.

Sadly this was one of the occasions where getting a ticket for the game was impossible. Nevertheless we wanted to be here, part of the atmosphere that only these European trips can offer – nothing can replicate the feeling of being amongst “your own”.

As kickoff approached Spurs fans scuttered off in various directions, not helped by the rain. We tried one pub on Dam Square which was rammed and had no luck getting in to. We ventured off down a side street and stumbled upon an Irish pub which seemed suitable enough for the evening. No idea where Natalie ended up, we somehow got separated and she ended up watching the game with another friend elsewhere.

By this point the nerves had kicked in, this was undoubtedly one of the biggest games in Tottenham’s history and please Spurs, just once eh?

BAM! Five minutes in and Ajax have scored to put them 1-0 up on the night and 2-0 up overall. That was not the start we wanted!

Time ticked on and Ajax have done it again, 2-0 up on the night and 3-0 ahead in the tie. I’ve had various and numerous Spurs disappointments over the years but is this really how this is going to play out? Our biggest game in my lifetime and we’re just going to crash out with a whimper? I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry at a Spurs team or performance. I’ve undoubtedly seen worse performances but on this stage it was unacceptable and indefensible. If we lose to Ajax then so be it, they’re a good team but at least do it the right way. At least give us a chance. Gutless, spineless, pathetic.

I considered getting up and going at half time. Let’s not pretend I can’t find a million other ways to actually enjoy my evening in Amsterdam. Something possessed me to stay, I dare say hope but in reality I must just enjoy the misery that comes with following Spurs. Why else let them put me through the ringer year after year, season after season, disappointment after disappointment?

“If Ajax score again I’m gone..” I say to Daniel. If we could just get one early goal in the second half, you just never know.

BAM! Lucas Moura! 2-1 on the night, 3-1 overall. The pub roars and for the first time there’s that glimmer of hope, just a small dash. Could we?

BAM! Four minutes later, Lucas Moura again! Beers go flying everywhere, this Tottenham dominated pub goes delirious. Belief for the very first time! Half an hour to go, only one goal needed, game on! The nerves have returned.

The next half an hour was agonising. So close and yet so far, every Ajax attack sent fear through my body, every missed opportunity for Spurs caused despair.

With a couple of minutes to go a cross comes in to the box, Vertonghen gets his head on it and..

~~BAM~~ crossbar. Argh! That was the chance! That had to go in!

Now this is typical Tottenham isn’t it? I was suddenly backtracking on my earlier hopes. This tie was dead and buried, Spurs had no chance but they couldn’t just leave it alone and allow me to suffer an embarrassing 12-0 defeat. No. It’d be much more fun to play like idiots for three halves of football, offer you that little bit of hope and then crush you in the finale.

Time ticked on and Ajax wasted every wasting second they could. Five minutes of injury time to play and another chance comes and goes. This is always the way with Spurs, it’s fucking cruel. So close and so far – no happy ending here.

Ajax waste more time and it seems like that is probably that. We get the ball back with seconds to go and boot a hopeful ball forward, we need a miracle. Hit and hope.

Llorente knocks it down, Dele flicks it on, MOURA!!!!!! 95:01 on the clock. Are you fucking kidding!? What the fuck just happened!?

Beers go flying again – more this time. Bodies go flying too. I’m thrown one way, Daniel the other direction as everyone piles in for a massive group-hug. Seriously, what the fuck just happened? How did that happen!? I have no words.

Things calm down long enough to watch the game kick off again. Now this would be typical Tottenham wouldn’t it? Surely even we can’t mess this one up? The referee finds another minute from somewhere, god knows where and prayers are being spoken all over Amsterdam. Erik Lamela decides the 97th minute of a Champions League semi final is the perfect time to do some stepovers and tricks on the edge of his box and proceeds to lose the ball – I daren’t repeat the words that came out of my mouth in the seconds that followed.

Time and place Erik, time and place! Get rid of the fucking ball man!

The final whistle goes and the pub roars again, very little beer left to throw by this point.

Myself and Daniel are finally reunited and we share a look that transcends words. Bemusement shared with the biggest grins imaginable, no explanation to what we’ve just witnessed. We embrace in a massive hug and I’ve completely gone by this point – the tears are streaming down my face. Spurs are going to Madrid for the Champions League final. Spurs have actually done it!

Myself and Daniel part and seconds later I’m crying in the arms of another Spurs fan and another and another. Swept up in the aftermath of multiple celebrations I head up to bar, just wanting a glass of water to catch my breath and I’m turned away – no service, not even for a quick glass of water – it’s closing time from the party-poopers.

Not that it mattered. The celebrations spilled out in to the streets and everyone is heading in the same direction – Dam Square! It is rammed with Spurs fans.

I still can’t stop crying. Pride just pouring out of me, happiness pouring out of me. Happiness for myself, happiness for every other Spurs supporter, player, manager and everyone associated with this wonderful, wonderful football club that I love and loathe in equal measure.

It’s evident at just how much this means to everyone but it’s just so hard to put in to words. Even now I well up when I think of that night. More hugs follow with stranger after stranger after stranger and I still can’t stop crying – this stuff just doesn’t happen to Spurs.

I can’t express just how many strangers I embraced and shared hugs with. It’s quite weird to think a year later we were in lockdown and couldn’t hug anyone! I got my 2020’s worth in one night!

The mood around Dam Square was just incredible and it wasn’t long before songs were ringing around the square! I somewhat felt for the hotel occupants that were probably hoping for a quiet night in an expensive hotel right on Dam Square and found hundreds singing on their doorstep in to the early hours – glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur!

I was reluctant to drag myself away but I was starting to feel quite dehydrated by this point and was desperate to go and find a bottle of water somewhere. I bid my farewells to Daniel and Natalie (who we bumped into again in Dam Square) and called it a night – back to the hostel.

I reeked of beer and debated taking a shower but that’s the one downside to hostel life, I didn’t want to disturb those already in bed and decided I’d just have to make do with a beer-drenched sleep – assuming that I could sleep.

I was still on such a high, laying in bed with yet more tears streaming down my face. I finally had a chance to catch up with some of the online reaction to what can only be described as one of the best nights of my life and seeing that joy shared only set me off further. Am I ever going to stop crying? I tucked my phone away and hoped that eventually my tear-filled eyes would allow me to sleep.

The next morning I woke from the strangest of dreams before remembering that actually, yes that did happen last night. It may well have been the stench of beer that helped remind me so I took the opportunity to shower before then checking out of my hostel.

I had nothing planned for my Thursday. In all honesty I couldn’t focus on anything else but football. My body was in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, my head was in Madrid – it’s all I could think about and working out the logistics of how I was going to get there.

I returned to a much quieter Dam Square and went in search of some breakfast, eventually finding a little place serving some crepes. They just so happened to have a little TV in the corner that were of course showing the highlights from the night before which I couldn’t take my eyes off – still in disbelief.

After breakfast I went wandering, off down one of Amsterdam’s canals but it was no use. I felt guilty but I just had no appreciation for where I was.

Sure Amsterdam’s pretty but I just want to go back to England and think about Madrid. I even went as far as looking for a Eurostar ticket and came very close to booking the next possible train but couldn’t justify spending a couple of hundred pound or whatever it was on a one way ticket – I’m just going to have to hang around in Amsterdam until my coach later this evening.

The nice thing about Amsterdam is that it’s a great city for doing nothing, it’s so easy to wander and not really care where you end up. I couldn’t tell you where I went in truth. Along this canal, down this street, across that bridge and being a glorious sunny day it was quite nice to get lost.

Eventually I stumbled upon a bar which I liked the look of and thought I’d stop off for a drink. I took a seat at the bar and by chance the guy to my right just so happened to be another Spurs supporter, a Spurs fan from Helsinki of all places! I mentioned that I’d just been to Helsinki and he offered a few recommendations for next time and then taught me a few Finnish words which was quite fun.

We grabbed another beer and ordered some ‘bitterballen’ which I hadn’t tried before (delicious) before eventually going our separate ways. I wandered a little more but by this point I was just killing time really, not too much longer and I’d be catching my coach home.

I decided to pop over to Amsterdam’s Hard Rock Cafe to get a late lunch and an early dinner. Being Amsterdam, its HRC inevitably overlooks a canal but I took seat at the bar as it was a little busy in the restaurant which ended up working in my favour. I always like the HRC, I’ve ticked off a few on my travels but this occasion was particularly memorable.

I finished off my food and the barman comes back and asks if I fancy another beer – “on the house!”.

How could I possibly say no to that? A wonderful gesture for no reason at all. I had plenty of time to kill so of course, another beer sounds perfect! I was so grateful!

From there it was a gradual winddown to departure. The free beer had certainly perked up my mood for Amsterdam but there wasn’t anything I really wanted to do. The most logical thing would probably to have gone elsewhere to grab a drink but I didn’t really fancy that either ahead of a long journey. I decided to just walk over to the bus stop, a good few miles away.

It was a nice way of seeing parts of Amsterdam I hadn’t ventured to previously. I didn’t walk the whole way in the end, maybe half of it before hopping on the metro. I’d gone from loads of time to kill to a mini-panic that I’d dawdled too much and now time wasn’t on my side.

I needn’t have worried as I got to the bus station with far too much time and nothing in the area but at least I was on time. I popped to a nearby supermarket to grab a bottle of water for the journey.

Frustratingly my card proceeded to decline and I had nowhere to get any cash out so was just about to put the water back before a kind stranger stepped in – lucking out with another freebie!

The journey back to Amsterdam was a little busier – no idea why but I guess a few fancied a trip to London. There were again a couple of Spurs fans on board who I got talking to – Madrid inevitably the hot topic.

This time we were taking a ferry journey across the channel which was the first time I’d done so for many, many years. Despite being well versed in travel, sea-travel is seemingly not my comfort zone! Stick me up in the sky and I’m generally fine but ferries? Bleurgh..

I felt woozy pretty early on and hoped to just ride out the journey as smoothly as possible. One of my new bus-friends came and found me and insisted I join him and shared his life story before proceeding to try and get a little sleep on the ferry.

As tired as I was, sleeping wasn’t an option for me. I closed my eyes at one point and that was a terrible decision. It just seemed to heighten my senses and awareness that we were on the water and bobbing along – terrible!

Eventually we were back in England and back on the coach but the rest of the journey was horrible. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was going to be sick. Ferry travel had not agreed with me at all and a claustrophobic-feeling coach wasn’t helping either.

I’d hoped to try and sleep it off but this was typically a much livelier bus on this occasion. We’d picked up a few youngsters in a dodgy-looking part of Brussels who were perfectly friendly but meant there was a lot more chatter on the way home. Nobody, myself included, seemed to kick up any fuss about the noise and ordinarily I don’t think I’d have cared at all but I felt so awful that it just added to my misery.

We got back as far as London and it just seemed to take an age to get to Victoria. I’d got this far without feeling sick, don’t be sick now! Fortunately I wasn’t, I held out but it seemed like the second we got to Victoria and got off the bus I then let it all out.

I’d booked an overnight coach for a multitude of reasons but one last reason I’d booked a Thursday evening coach was that I wouldn’t have to take Friday off work. I felt so awful though that I ended up texting my boss and asking for another day of holiday – a waste but I just couldn’t face going in to work after such a torrid journey home.

and that was that. This post went on much longer than I thought it would do but how could it not? If you made it this far, well done! I appreciate it was quite football-heavy but genuinely one of the greatest nights of my life and the fact I’d started the week in Helsinki means it probably ranks as one of the best weeks of my life.

A post on Helsinki and part two of that Köln trip will come soon but next up? A roadtrip to Madrid for a Champions League final – featuring Spurs!!

Stay tuned!

Jason

Warsaw – November 2018

Hello my dear followers, how are things? Had you expected to see me back so soon? Posts in consecutive weeks – wow! I’m on a roll!

When I started this blog I decided that I was just going to write about my trips chronologically, it seemed the easiest way to do things but it does mean that I’m often writing about trips from quite some time ago.

The last trip I wrote about was my “big 3-0 series” – the 30 day adventure in the USA in the summer of 2018. So it means in travel terms I’m still writing about trips from almost four years ago!

What’s worse is not only was the trip itself a long time ago, it has actually been more than six months since I wrapped up that series on the blog. My blogging disappearance means that it has been ages since I’ve actually written about a trip, so let’s get back to it shall we?

That summer adventure was incredible for so many reasons and I visited some incredible places throughout my month in the USA. Though sadly whilst a month off of work has an endless number of perks, the downside is that sometimes you have to return to reality.

Finance permitting I may well have just said sod it and camped out with Bigfoot somewhere in Washington or Montana for the rest of my life but alas, retirement is still a good few ~~(days?, weeks?, years?)~~ decades away and I had to return to England.

Back to work – after a month! Worse yet, I’d taken a month off which severely hampered any plans for the rest of the year. I’d used up all of my annual leave! It was the 28th of August and I couldn’t think about having ONE day off between now and January – not one measly day!

Now one day off might not seem like a huge deal for some of you but to us work-shy Europeans who like to capitalise on every last drop of annual leave allowance, it felt torturous. A tad hard to complain too much when you’ve just had a full month off work but complain I did!

I’ve never felt the value of a day more than I did in those painful last months of 2018 (is that a violin I hear?). All I wanted was a day that could extend in to a long weekend, or half a day even. Let me finish work on Friday afternoon and whisk off to Europe for the weekend. Let me prolong my stay and fly home on Monday morning. Where was this “working at home” malarkey when I really needed it?

The real kicker was the summer’s Champions League draw. Long time readers will know that football is a huge passion of mine, Tottenham Hotspur particularly so, and that I’ve taken many trips across Europe to watch my beloved Spurs over the years. Yet I knew in 2018 I’d have to sacrifice that luxury, no European away football trips in 2018.

To my dismay, after years of what felt like every European fixture being held in Germany, Tottenham got somewhat of a dream draw. We’d already played in Turin earlier in the year which I begrudgingly passed on but then that Champions League draw – Barcelona, Inter, Tottenham, PSV!

Spurs are going to Barcelona, Milan and Eindhoven. Are you fricking kidding me? I would have done any one of or all three destinations in a heartbeat and didn’t have one remaining day to use – agony! Barcelona in particular, when am I ever going to get the chance to see Spurs in the Nou Camp again?

“Do you think work would notice if I pulled a sickie that day?” – the professionalism kicked in and I worked but urgh. I sacrificed and you’ll be pleased to know Tottenham’s European tour continued in to 2019 and I vowed that I’d go to the next European game no matter what – all shall be revealed in my next post!

Anyway, that only made the wanderlust grow and I HAD to go somewhere this year. It was by no means ideal given I was limited on time but I wasn’t waiting until the new year for some adventure. A weekend up in Birmingham scratched the itch a little bit but I really wanted to explore somewhere new – enter Warsaw!

In hindsight I don’t know that it really worked. I booked the earliest Saturday morning flights I could and the latest Sunday evening flights coming home that I could but still, less than 36 hours in Warsaw – it wasn’t perfect.

That said, with further hindsight.. Covid, you know? Every trip taken now looks sensible with the C word in mind. I don’t think I could ever recommend having just one night in Warsaw but I made the best of what I had.

So early on Saturday morning I flew out to Warsaw, which for anyone who has flown with Ryanair would know could actually be anywhere in Poland. In this instance the airport was around 40 km away from the city I actually wanted to be in – fantastic!

It took me a little while to figure out how to navigate my way to Warsaw from the middle of nowhere but soon enough I was on a bus and then getting off just outside the huge Palace of Culture and Science in the city – probably one of Warsaw’s most recognisable landmarks and impossible to miss!

By this point it was already mid-afternoon and it felt like a good chunk of my weekend had deserted me. I thought I’d go and check in to my hotel and then grab some food but as it was one of my travel-favourites caught me eye.

Just across the street I happened to see none other than Warsaw’s Hard Rock Cafe – I had no real intention of seeking it out or looking for it on such a short trip but given the convenient location I couldn’t pass up making my first meal and indeed first experience in Poland a tourist-trap.

There are two things I remember from my visit. Firstly its appearance – lined along the walls was a huge, huge collection of guitars planted in to the wall. It was a really cool piece of art if you can call it that.

HRC Guitars — Guitar wall – Hard Rock Cafe, Warsaw

Secondly, the service was abysmal. It’s a shame because the service and atmosphere are usually HRC’s strong points but was far from its usual standards in Warsaw. My server seemed oblivious to my presence from the beginning. Once I finally managed to order something it was a long wait hoping that some food might arrive this afternoon. Still waiting, a while later my server made eye contact before scurrying away and sending a colleague over to take a brand new order.

Whilst I appreciate the struggles of the service industry and perhaps feeling a tad embarrassed, it was a little disappointing that my server shirked any responsiblity or apology for my wait and let someone else take the fall. Not that they apologised either. I did eat eventually but not off to the best starts in Poland.

From there I decided I’d finally go and check in to my hotel. It was probably 4, pushing 5pm by this point and the rush had worn me down. Perhaps Poland was just too far to go for a little over 24 hours. By the time I’d dropped my things off I didn’t feel like doing anything, I was partly regretting having even made the effort to come.

Feeling a bit sorry for myself I was torn between wasting the rest of my evening or forcing myself out to go and enjoy Warsaw’s nightlife on my only proper evening in the city.

In the end I decided upon a pitiful compromise, I thought I’d pop down to the hotel bar and get a drink and think about what to do from there. Feeling a dose of de-ja-vu my dear barman was AWOL, no interest in getting anyone a drink. I waited and waited and waited and I finally gave up.

“I’m not ever getting a drink here am I? Let’s go out I suppose..”

I ran back up to my hotel room, ditched the invisibility cloak I’d seemingly been wearing all day and headed back out with a coat. A couple of places caught my eye and one in particular, the Barock pub, took my fancy which wasn’t too far from my hotel.

On route I passed the ‘Hala Koszyki’ indoor market / food court which seemed like a wonderful place to spend the evening. I was quite tempted to stick around as it seemed somewhat of a hidden gem and a nice hangout spot for locals and tourists alike – one to remember for a future visit I said.

I continued on to the Barock pub and found this cosy little pub down one of the side streets. I can’t quite remember why I was set on this pub but I think one of the appeals had been that they had live music on and I was keen to enjoy the evening by this point.

I wandered up to the bar, tried to order a beer but was unfortunately met with a rather unfriendly barmaid who didn’t seem too pleased that I didn’t already know what I wanted from the extensive beer menu, hoping for a little help (in English) for recommendations. She handed me over to what I assume was her husband (they were both fairly old) who also didn’t seem best pleased to be serving me but I managed to sputter out the word ‘piwo’ clearly enough to at the very least get a beer at this point.

Perhaps I had just been unfortunate up to now but the fact this was the best service I’d received thus far in Warsaw was quite comical.

From here the evening at least got better. I found a table to sit at with my beer and this band played away among the local chatter at tables around me. They put on a fun show and I was even adamant I somehow knew their final song of the evening.

How, why or where I would have heard it I don’t know but I assumed it must have been a cover of something I’d possibly heard. My best efforts of internet-hunting well-known Polish songs came up short so I’ll never know the answer to that mystery but it was a lovely evening and much better than wasting it away in the hotel – although had I been in Warsaw longer than a night I may well have done that.

Feeling much more myself after a good night’s sleep, I wanted to have at least seen a little of Warsaw before heading home. I knew my time was pretty limited but I was keen to get out and get walking – my favourite way to familiarise myself with a new place.

I wandered back past the Palace of Culture and Science and made the slow walk over to the Old Town, surely a must see on my brief visit to Warsaw. The walk took me through the Ogrod Saski (Saxon Garden) which was a lovely park, albeit probably lovelier in nicer climates than mid-November.

The highlight, or part of the park that drew the biggest interest, appeared to be the ‘tomb of the unknown soldier’ – a worthy memorial to the unknown Polish soldiers killed in World War 1.

Moving onwards took me past the presidential palace, another impressive landmark on the fringes of the old town. I grabbed a few photos and then turned my attention towards food. After yesterday’s debacle I was keen to turn my attention towards some Polish cuisine and get some early lunch. I found myself a restaurant nearby promising pierogi on the menu and that was enough to tempt me inwards.

It was a wise choice. The food was lovely and would you believe it, I even received some good service! Yesterday’s shortcomings were already starting to feel like a distant memory (he says four years later..).

Having filled my stomach on delicious dumplings I was ready to get back out and see the rest of the old town. I soon found myself at ‘Plac Zakowy’, better known as ‘Castle Square’ – home to the royal castle and I suppose the main square of the old town.

To my surprise it was pretty quiet, deserted even. I don’t know if Sunday being a religious day perhaps had a role in that. Visiting Poland in mid-November is hardly prime time to visit the country either, cold and probably a tad too early for any Christmas markets, but there was hardly anybody around. I had this huge square to myself for the mostpart – wonderful really.

The standout landmark of course was the royal castle, probably one of Poland’s most famous landmarks which towers over the square. You can do tours but I saw the queues and decided I’d leave it for a future visit when more time was on my side. On this occasion I settled for walking around it and just marveled at it – a beautiful building.

Royal Castle Warsaw — Royal Castle, Warsaw

The rest of the old town was equally lovely, like many throughout Europe I suppose. You could spend plenty of time wandering its streets and popping in to a number of restaurants, bars and shops as you go. I was pleased to see there was a scattering of Christmas markets, I seem to so frequently time my November trips a week too early and miss the best of them. There weren’t many on this occasion and I suspect I’d have seen much more had I been there a week or so later but it was still nice to see and started getting me in to the festive mood.

One of the unique things about Warsaw’s old town is that it was destroyed during World War 2 and then reconstructed to the best of their ability to resemble what it looked like beforehand. So as far as old town’s go, I suppose this is one of the newer ones but you wouldn’t know it when walking around.

Being mid-November it didn’t take long to get dark and cold so feeling content I’d seen enough of Warsaw for a first-time flying visit I went in search of an establishment to wind down. I knew I hadn’t even scratched the surface with Warsaw but there was no use in trying to pack things in for the sake of it, I knew I’d be coming back at some point in the future.

I found myself a brewery in the Mariensztat area and treated myself to a couple of beers – one thing Poland does do particularly well and cheaply too! The only thing missing was a food menu so I pottered on back to the old town for one last look around and to find somewhere to grab some food before heading on over to the airport.

I’d decided I’d just get an Uber back to the airport as it’d be quicker and being Poland, not too expensive either. Whilst Uber has its perks, one of my frustrations I find is that they don’t necessarily pick you up where you actually want them to pick you up – then have the cheek to charge you a late fee if you’re not where they want you quickly enough.

Whilst I don’t actually use Uber particularly often, many a trip has had to start with me wondering where I actually have to go to in order to be picked up – my trip had almost ended as it started. I had a 40km bus detour to get to my destination after Ryanair dropped me off in the middle of nowhere and now I had a somewhat-smaller detour to find my taxi for them to take me back to the middle of nowhere.

I promise this story comes with a point but the upside is that instead of actually getting picked up at the restaurant I’d grabbed food at, I had to go running round Warsaw to find my Uber and bam!

Don’t worry, it didn’t hit me but I turned the corner and there were these castle walls staring back at me. In the search for my Uber I’d only gone and stumbled upon the incredible Warsaw Barbican.

It was stunning and whilst pleased I’d stumbled upon it, I was sad I didn’t really get the chance to explore the area properly. I quickly snapped a few photos but was then on my way. A little further up the road my Uber was waiting for me and we were off, back to the airport and back to work in the morning.

Overall Warsaw wasn’t entirely what I’d wanted but it’d be hard to say through any fault of its own. The Warsaw that I got to see was lovely, I just didn’t see anywhere near enough of it due to a lack of time.

Even with some shoddy service along the way, my only real feelings about my first trip to Poland are positive. Warsaw is a really nice city and one that I have no doubts I’ll return to – particularly as it’s so cheap.

I’d certainly recommend a visit but hope you do so for longer than I did. At the very least I think I needed a two night trip but it wasn’t to be.

Anyway, I’ll wrap this up! Next time on the blog? That long-awaited European away trip with Spurs.

Stay tuned!

Jason

The big 3-0: The final few days..

Welcome back my dear readers! It has been a while! Ironically I’ve been pretty rubbish at blogging for most of the pandemic – you’d think with more time I’d have found it easier but no.. Weird, right?

Anyway, those of you following along on this journey have read countless posts on this particular series – from the early planning stage to the farewell to the rubbish summary in the immediate aftermath of the trip.

The next step of blogging about the trip was determining the “right way” to relive it. I have a habit of rambling and my concern was that breaking it down by location would see an enormous post on destinations such as New Orleans or San Francisco and then a four word post about other parts of the trip, so in the end I decided I’d post a day-by-day retelling which has worked well (I think).

However now that we’re approaching the finish line I’ve been conflicted on whether to stick to daily posts for the last few days or just wrapping this up with one last post – I’m leaning towards the latter.

I was asked many times after this trip “what was the highlight?” or “favourite place?” or whatever but I sincerely loved every minute of it. The end to this trip was just as special as the start of it and it was quite nice to wind down for a few days before heading home. Given I’d be landing in England on Monday and returning to work on Tuesday after an entire month off, it was quite nice having that downtime at the end of this trip.

That said four days in Moses Lake of not doing much won’t make for particularly exciting reading so here we are! One final post to wrap this trip up!

Moses Lake History — Moses Lake, Washington

After leaving San Franciso, California on Monday morning we’d made it back to Moses Lake, Washington on Tuesday evening. I wasn’t flying home until Monday so in spite of everything I just said about a relaxed end to this trip being nice, I would have loved to have had a few more days traveling and extended our travel right up to Sunday night.

However Haleigh teaches and some genius decided sending the kids back to school on a Thursday after 3 months of vacation would be a good idea and lead to a really productive two day first-week back. Consequently we had to cut our traveling short and make sure we were back to Moses Lake on Wednesday at the latest.

In hindsight I do actually believe it worked out for the best but before this trip I was probably more bitter that the schoolyear’s calendar was so inconvenient for me (that’s not the first thing they consider?) and that I’d lost 4-5 days that I could have been traveling instead.

Anyway, we woke up on Wednesday morning back in familiar surroundings and Haleigh was off to school – last minute preparations for the new school year!

I had the choice of staying in bed or joining Haleigh and getting a small glimpse of the school life from the “other side”. I’d only ever experienced school as a young student – you turn up on day one and everything is in place. That’s obviously the same for the teachers, right?

Washington School — An American classroom!

Well let me shock you right now – apparently there are no magical school fairies that do it all! It’s actually teachers and other school staff that are the ones going in before the school year to get things set up for the year! Who knew!?

After grabbing breakfast (pancakes) at one of our favourite breakfast spots in Moses Lake we headed on over to Haleigh’s school and I got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of teacher life! I met various other teachers and administration staff over the next couple of hours – one little academic family working their own magic.

The main reason I’d tagged along was to hope I’d be of some use. Given that my time in the US was running out I figured the sooner Haleigh was done, the sooner we’d be out of there and spending quality time together so I helped where I could before Haleigh was satisfied that she was all good to go for tomorrow!

We grabbed a late lunch but didn’t do too much with the rest of our afternoon – I think we may have even napped! A little later our focus switched towards dinner and we decided we’d return to another Moses Lake favourite – “Rock Top” – a restaurant downtown and also host of mine and Haleigh’s first proper date roughly a year earlier. It’s a nice place with nice food so it’s always somewhere we enjoy visiting.

On this particular occasion they seemed to be having issues with their beer availability. I ordered a particular beer with my dinner and then two minutes later my waitress returned to to say they were having some issues and that particular beer wasn’t available.

No bother I thought as I ordered a different beer instead but then a couple of minutes later she again returned apologetically telling me that wasn’t available either – nor was any other beer – but she’d personally buy me a cider for my troubles.

I’m not much of a cider drinker but who am I to turn down a free drink? It was a sweet gesture and one I appreciated – infact I probably tipped better than I normally would do (still generous) so I guess it balanced out a little. It was a good reminder of why this place had proven to be a favourite though with some great service despite the problems they were having with their stock!

The next day it was “back to school” and this time I had no desire to wake up early. As Haleigh got herself ready for the first day back, I snuggled up under the duvets and basked in the cozyness of a nice, warm bed.

I didn’t really end up going back to sleep but certainly made the most of a lazy morning before pondering what to do with the day. I’d been to Moses Lake before – twice infact and it’s not a big town, there isn’t an awful lot to do. Nevertheless I didn’t want to sit around the apartment all day on my own so I figured I’d have a wander, grab some lunch and maybe catch the football if I was lucky enough.

One of the unique things about returning to such a small place is that the differences between visits perhaps seem more noticeable. On my walk in to town was this apartment complex which had been pretty much nothing when I first visited (Sep 2017), construction when I returned (Feb 2018) and something glimpsing more of a finished product (Aug 2018) come the time of this trip.

Moses Lake Development — Moses Lake, Feb 2020 – there was nothing on this land on my first visit!

The rest of town seemed much the same. I noticed a couple of new statues that I hadn’t seen previously but otherwise it was business as usual in Moses Lake. I popped in to my favourite little coffee shop and ordered myself some tea and took my “usual” spot by the window.

Following on from some tea I decided to go grab lunch at a favourite bar from a previous visit. It has a nice atmosphere, a lunch menu and more importantly a bunch of TV’s so I was hopeful I’d be able to watch some Europa League football which kicks off at 8pm in the UK and would make perfect lunchtime viewing.

Sadly it seems no US network has picked up coverage for the competition so I settled for some lunch accompanied with some beer. The food was good, the atmosphere as friendly as ever and to my surprise I was even recognised!

“I remember you! You’re the guy from England with the teacher girlfriend..”

Or something to that effect anyway. I have to say I was a little surprised by it. I’d only been to this bar once – six months ago – so to be remembered was a real sign of how few out-of-towners a place like Moses Lake attracts. Brits are certainly few and far between so I was subjected to a taste of the “rockstar” lifestyle – remembered and welcomed. It was an experience that added to the feeling that I was at home here. I’m very much a “big city” person but small-town life definitely comes with its perks.

MidwayPubMosesLake

I could happily have stayed in that bar all day but I thought better of getting too drunk and made my way back to the apartment for another relaxed evening with Haleigh.

Friday started pretty much as Thursday had. Haleigh’s alarm went off in anticipation of the school day and as she got ready, I once again snuggled up and had a little more sleep.

I didn’t really have any idea of what to do with my day, however as it was my last full day in Moses Lake for quite some time I figured I’d go make the best of it and again made the trek downtown.

I decided to wander a little further today and find somewhere new for lunch. I’d never noticed it previously but this restaurant / bar popped up on Google Maps and I was intrigued enough to check it out.

“The Hangout” as it’s called looked anything but from the exterior. It didn’t give off the impression it really wanted to be found and as I walked up to the doors I did ponder if it was even open – there was no inkling of what laid beyond the front doors.

It was a weird little place. The “stay away” exterior vibes didn’t really change as I walked in with pretty much every head turning towards the door to give the intruder a look.

“Were we expecting anyone else?”

I must have been 30 years younger than anyone else inside, staff included, and certainly felt like I stuck out a bit – that’s before I’d even opened my mouth. I took a seat at the bar and gave the menu a quick glance before ordering myself a burger.

Hearing the English accent came as a bit of a surprise and caused another “rockstar” moment! Brits always seem to be welcomed with open arms in the US – particularly in tiny towns such as Moses Lake.

A guy at a stool sat to my left took a bit of a shine to me and actually welcomed the company. Its standoffish exterior and interior did a fine job of scaring away the Instagrammers hunting photogenic spots but once you got past the appearance, it was actually a pretty friendly place and you could tell customers and staff alike all knew eachother and in some cases probably saw eachother daily.

My new friend was reminiscing of his youthful trips to England and how much he was fascinated by all things London (Kent included). I didn’t have the heart to break it to him that London didn’t stretch quite as far as Kent but it was still a pleasant experience and nice to have the company whilst enjoying my lunch.

IMAG6541

I didn’t stay beyond lunch. I wanted one last stroll by the lake before heading home and then took a detour via the local museum on the way home. I’d been to the museum before (Sep 2017) but it’s free to visit and I was hopeful that the exhibit would have changed by now.

Fortunately it had and I was treated to an exhibit on Bigfoot, Sasquatch and a few other bits and pieces that made for some interesting reading. It’s not a huge museum but for a freebie it’s worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Moses Lake (why would you be?).

Happy that I wasn’t going to be mistaken for Bigfoot on the way out, I called it a day and made my way back to the apartment and soon afterwards Haleigh was home. We decided we’d go out for dinner for our final night in town and chose to visit Rocktop’s partner restaurant – “Michael’s On The Lake”.

Michael's On The Lake

Unsurprisingly given the name, it’s a restaurant that sits overlooking the lake and offers some pretty views. We timed it pretty well as we got to enjoy most of the sunset whilst we ate – a perfect setting to end our time in Eastern Washington.

After dinner we went and played some bowling. I managed my best round of the trip (Portland, Klamath Falls & Moses Lake) which was rather unfortunate as Haleigh also bowled her best game which would have probably beaten me on any other occasion.

and that was that for Moses Lake.

Haleigh bowling

The next morning I woke up fairly early. With Haleigh still sleeping I packed up the last of my bits and prepared myself for another Moses Lake farewell. I knew I’d be back at some point but it’s always tough leaving when you feel so at home somewhere.

Before this trip I was worried I might end up feeling homesick but the reality is that I could have stayed much, much longer. I was in no rush to be going back to work and reality. Nevertheless it had to be done – time was almost up.

We grabbed some breakfast before hitting the road and making our way Westbound towards Seattle. The realness of the situation had hit! It was the third time I’d had to say goodbye to Washington and it just got harder every time it reached this point of a trip. I knew I still had the rest of the day to enjoy with Haleigh but the fact that we were going to Seattle meant I knew time was nearly up.

The music didn’t help.. Our self-created playlist seemed particularly cruel and had synced perfectly with the occasion. On came the next song with lyrics of “Jason’s going home and you’re never going to see eachother again..”

Admittedly it might have been something a little more subtle than that but it was certainly something tauntingly cruel that only helped ram hope the point that I was leaving. We ended up having to make a stop somewhere close to the Colombia River to get some fresh air. The tears were streaming as we got out of the car but a pretty view helped get our emotions back in check – it was too early to be sad!

Washington!

We hit the road again with Haleigh suggesting we stop for lunch in Ellensburg – a college town in central Washington. She really wanted to revisit a restaurant and we figured we could also check in on our friends Maddie and Cassie before going home.

As it was it seems the restaurant was closed for the holidays and Maddie and Cassie were ironically in Seattle having taken a friend to the airport so I didn’t get a chance to see them before heading home (our fault for winging it last minute!).

We ended up heading downtown and grabbing lunch elsewhere, plus checking out a couple of stores downtown before getting back on route to Seattle. Ellensburg is the last major stop on the East side of the mountains, once you get past Ellensburg the scenery really begins to pick up. It’s a journey I’ll never tire of – particularly as a passenger able to just take it all in and admire the views.

Washington

Soon enough we’d arrived at our hotel for the night. I wasn’t actually leaving until tomorrow but I had an early morning flight so I figured it was convenient to be staying by the airport for my final night in the US.

We didn’t end up venturing in to Seattle itself. Had we not been to Seattle before we might have reconsidered it but I don’t think either of us felt like doing much and just wanted to enjoy our final few hours together.

After a bit of relaxation our focus switched to heading back out for dinner somewhere. A quick look on Google suggested this Thai place would be a good place to check out. Unfortunately we drove over there and finding somewhere to park was impossible which was when we spotted a Cheesecake factory across the street.

Rather than struggle to park we crossed over and ended up eating at the Cheesecake Factory instead – a second on this trip after San Francisco.

Much like in San Francisco it was really busy. I’ve seen mention of them in TV shows and things but they’re a fairly big deal in this part of the world. I could understand the wait in San Francisco given the time and day and central location but this was nowhere really – it’s clearly an American favourite with a host of options to take your fancy.

Unfortunately we weren’t sat with the best of company and ended up next to the most obnoxious guy which spoilt the atmosphere a little. On the plus side some of the members at his table seemed equally displeased with his company so at least we weren’t stuck with him for the evening haha. The food was good and we made the best of enjoying our last meal together for the foreseeable future. After another tasty meal and dessert we headed back to the hotel, chilled out for a bit and got ourselves an early night. A 7:40am flight meant an early start to the day!

The alarm started going off at silly-o-clock. Rather stupidly I was flying home from Chicago. I’d flown in to Chicago on day one and for a multitude of reasons I thought it made good sense to just book a return flight home but in hindsight that was a mistake.

The second I booked the flights I seemed to instantly regret that decision and should have just flown home from Seattle. It’s the second multi-city US trip that I’ve done this for and I regretted the inconvenience on both occasions. In 2017 it robbed me of a few more hours in Dallas and on this occasion it robbed me of a little more time in Washington with Haleigh.

Seattle Art — Seattle artwork at Seatac Airport

Haleigh came with me to wave me off at the airport, extending our time together by a few more minutes but eventually it was time to separate. We said our painful goodbyes (yet again) and I made my way through to the other side and breezed through security.

Sidenote – the Seatac staff were particularly cheery on this day so that was something at least!

Reversing the cycle of the holiday, I ended it as I started it. On day one I kicked things off with a pre-flight beer or two and despite the silly time in the morning I did likewise here.

Unfortunately the task of finding a bar that was open was a little trickier at Seatac than it had been at Heathrow. I eventually stumbled upon one but despite being a pretty busy airport, the bar was relatively empty. I thought you Americans liked a beer? I think it further highlighted what a drunken little island we are – you’d find any good Wetherspoons airport bar back home packed no matter the time of day!

After a couple of beers I figured it was time to go and find my gate. It was at this point that I noticed the TV’s behind me had been showing the English afternoon football and I’d needlessly been checking for updates on my phone – oops!

Soon enough I was boarding my flight to Chicago and back in the Windy city. I had a mini layover, probably three hours or so before I’d have to be back at the airport so I was in two minds about going in to the city. I wanted to but I also realised I needed to eat and with a 30-40 minute journey each way I pondered if it was even worthwhile.

First things first, I figured I’d try my luck at the bag drop off point. I didn’t want to be lugging my suitcase around with me but to my surprise they were happy to check my bag in extremely early so going in to Chicago was that little more tempting. Nevertheless it didn’t seem worthwhile to go all that way given I wouldn’t really see anything and the only plan was to eat. I’d also avoid any mishaps so stayed at the airport and made my way through security.

It actually took quite a while getting through O’Hare’s security but given I had all of the time I wasn’t too worried – it was actually pretty appreciated on this occasion as I knew I’d be fairly bored for the next few hours anyway. Eventually I got through, found a little shop and bought some postcards to take home with me before switching my attention towards getting something to eat.

I opted for a sit-down pizza place and to my absolute horror, they had no Chicago-style pizza on the menu!

We’re in Chicago!! How can you not have Chicago-style pizza on your menu? It was a travesty! Don’t get me wrong, it’s by no means my favourite style of pizza but there should be laws against such wrongs in the world!

In the end I grabbed food elsewhere which wasn’t a much better choice really. The food wasn’t great, service was rubbish and topped off by a waitress deciding I needn’t receive any change. I waited a while for her to return but to no avail. I didn’t particularly want the change because who really wants loose change in a foreign currency to take home after a trip but nevertheless it was a sneaky move – one way to ensure you receive a generous tip I suppose.

The rest of my time passed pretty quickly. Given I was at the airport for so long it felt a lot shorter. I popped in to a bar but only seemed to have time for a couple of beers and I was then boarding.

The trip was over – reality was near! I landed in London and knew it was “back to work” tomorrow.

Nevertheless, what an experience! It’s undoubtedly one of the best things I’ve ever done and despite a blog series that never looked like ending at one point, I don’t think I’ll ever adequately summarise what a special summer it was. Thirty days spanning six states with countless faces and memories – what a celebration!

I know at some points it seemed like I wasn’t doing much but I suppose that’s the perk of longer travel. I had the right balance of busy and time to wind down and it was just an incredibly perfect trip that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

If you made it to the end (even of this post alone, let’s be honest I like a ramble) then thank you! I still don’t know that I really did the trip justice but I feel really grateful and humbled to have had the opportunity to embark on this adventure.

Thank You!

If you’ve missed any of the previous posts I’ll link all of them below – from start to finish but next up on the blog? Travels from a trip other than this one! Stay tuned!

Jason

P.S – see all of the posts for this trip below
The big 3-0!
The big 3-0: Update
See you in September!
The big 3-0: a terrible summary
2018: A travel round-up
The big 3-0: Day one – Chicago bound
The big 3-0: Day two – exploring Chicago
The big 3-0: Day three – Minneapolis
The big 3-0: Day four – Why I visited Minneapolis!
The big 3-0: Day five – New Orleans!
The big 3-0: Day six – The real New Orleans!
The big 3-0: Day seven – Goodbye New Orleans, Hello Washington
The big 3-0: Day eight – Exploring Poulsbo!
The big 3-0: Day nine – Wedding day!
The big 3-0: Day ten – To Portland!
The big 3-0: Day eleven – the actual 3-0!
The big 3-0: Day 12 – Oregon City and Portland
The big 3-0: Day thirteen – Walla Walla bound!
The big 3-0: Day fourteen – Walla Walla
The big 3-0: Day fifteen – The family BBQ!
The big 3-0: Day sixteen – the Vegas finale!
The big 3-0: Day seventeen – Back to Oregon!
The big 3-0: Day eighteen – Exploring Oregon’s coast!
The big 3-0: Day nineteen – California pit stop!
The big 3-0: Day twenty – San Francisco bound!
The big 3-0: Day twenty one – San Francisco begins!
The big 3-0: Day twenty two – San Fran continued!
The big 3-0: Day twenty three – Alcatraz!
The big 3-0: Day twenty four – Where to?
The big 3-0: Day twenty five – the return to Moses Lake!

The big 3-0: Day twenty five – the return to Moses Lake!

Welcome back my dear readers! After my much-needed rant on the football last time out on the blog, it’s back to travel and more importantly the final few days of the “big 3-0” trip.

Those following along will know that in the summer of 2018 I’d planned a trip spending 30 days in the USA which coincided with two friends getting married and also my 30th birthday.

Having run around all over the country, this was to be the last big day on the road. We were making our way back to Haleigh’s apartment in Moses Lake, with Haleigh set to go back to work and for me to see out my final few days in relatively relaxed spirits.

Before thinking about Moses Lake however, we had a full day of driving ahead of us. On the previous night we’d made a relatively unplanned stop in Klamath Fall which was our halfway point from San Francisco – a convenient place to break up two days of driving.

One of the attractions to stopping in this particular area was its proximity to Crater Lake in Oregon. We figured it would be a worthwhile stop on the way home.

I can’t really remember why we skipped it. Much of the West coast was up in smoke that summer (as it is every summer really..) so the conditions at the time weren’t the greatest. That might have been one off-putting reason to skip it but I think we were just keen to get going and get on the road early.

In hindsight perhaps we should have just committed to it regardless of how terrible the conditions were. That said, there’s no doubt that much of our future will be spent visiting the West Coast so it’s hard to imagine us not having an opportunity to return in the coming years.

So skipping Crater Lake, we drove onwards and soon enough found ourselves arriving in a city called Bend. Before knowing what the school schedule looked like we had contemplated staying in Bend for a couple of nights and meeting up with Haleigh’s best friend. In the end it didn’t materialise but Bend still seemed like it would be a good place for us to grab some brunch and we found ourselves a little pancake place on the outskirts of the city.

After fuller stomachs we hit the road again and around half an hour later Haleigh spotted a “must stop” roadside attraction – an alpaca farm with baby alpacas!

Haleigh insisted that we stop so we pulled over and headed in to this little gift shop to pick up a bag of food to feed them.

It’s a funny feeling having alpacas eating out of your hand. It was a first-time experience for me, I’m not sure what I was really expecting. I liked it initially but I think the second or third alpaca I fed was so slobbery that I left Haleigh to it after that. Haleigh laughed at my reaction so it felt like some sweet form of justice when she was getting slobbered on by the same alpaca a minute later.

Alpaca Stare — “Why are you taking photos and not feeding us?”

We did a full lap of the farm with Haleigh continuing to feed the many alpacas we met whilst I stuck to taking photos. They’re so cute! Although some of them didn’t seem too impressed that I was wasting my time taking photos when I could have been feeding them instead!

Aside from Haleigh getting sneezed on, it was a fun little stop and I’m glad that we’d pulled over. Sadly we couldn’t stay there all day and had to hit the road again.

The rest of the car journey was pretty uneventful. In parts we could really see how devastating of an effect the forest fires had had on the West Coast with burnt out trees becoming quite a regular sight. It wasn’t really until we hit the Colombia river that the scenery started picking up again.

Oregon Views — Back to the Columbia River!

Soon enough we were crossing back over the river and crossing the Oregon / Washington border for the umpteenth time on this trip. Back in to Washington we knew it wasn’t too much further to go but the long drives of the past two days were taking its toll on Haleigh and that final stretch probably felt much longer than it actually was.

Good music kept us going for that final stretch before we’d eventually arrived back in Moses Lake after another long day of driving. We’d been away for the past few weeks so had no food in the apartment. Additionally we didn’t feel like heading back out for dinner so in the end we settled for ordering a pizza and finishing off our night by enjoying some Netflix.

Again, it hadn’t been a hugely eventful day with the alpacas being an unexpected bonus! However it was just nice to be back in familiar surroundings and sleeping in a familiar bed again after three weeks of sleeping in various hostels, hotels and AirBnB’s.

The last few days would be spent trying to make the most of the little time we had left together in Washington before I’d have to head home.

Stay tuned for more on that!

Jason

P.S – if you want to read about other days of this trip, see below!
Day one – Chicago bound
Day two – exploring Chicago
Day three – Minneapolis
Day four – Why I visited Minneapolis!
Day five – New Orleans!
Day six – The real New Orleans!
Day seven – Goodbye New Orleans, Hello Washington
Day eight – Exploring Poulsbo!
Day nine – Wedding day!
Day ten – To Portland!
Day eleven – the actual 3-0!
Day twelve – Oregon City and Portland
Day thirteen – Walla Walla bound!
Day fourteen – Walla Walla
Day fifteen – The family BBQ!
Day sixteen – the Vegas finale!
Day seventeen – Back to Oregon!
Day eighteen – Exploring Oregon’s coast!
Day nineteen – California pit stop!
Day twenty – San Francisco bound!
Day twenty one – San Francisco begins!
Day twenty two – San Fran continued!
Day twenty three – Alcatraz!
Day twenty four – Where to?

The big 3-0: Day twenty four – Where to?

Welcome back dear readers! Time for yet another day of this 30 day trip! You’ll be pleased to hear (or maybe not?) that we’re near the end now!

Those of you following along will know I was enjoying a 30 day trip in the USA to coincide with my 30th birthday in the summer of 2018! The trip spanned six states, several cities and I cherish so many moments and memories from this trip but the reality is things were starting to wind down from here on out.

Whether that will make for interesting reading, who knows.. I guess I’ll let you be the judges of that but we woke up on Monday morning and it was time to say our goodbyes to San Francisco and head back to familiar surroundings in Washington State.

I wasn’t flying home until Sunday so in an ideal world we would have squeezed in some more adventure but Haleigh teaches and unfortunately, with no consideration for my trip, they set their first day back at school on the Thursday! A sodding Thursday! I’m sure that was a productive first two day week back at school!

So with school in mind we hit the road, not that we really knew where we were going. We’d half hoped the school might be a little flexible and Haleigh might be able to miss the first couple of days and start on Monday instead. Of course it didn’t pan out that way but that slim hope meant we held off making concrete plans or booking any accommodation so as the trip got closer and closer we just decided to wing it.

We’d looked at a few possible options before setting off but were mostly in the mindset of “we’ll see where we end up..” and just find somewhere to stay once we’d decided where to stop.

Interstate Photo — Where to? Somewhere North..

For the most part it was a fairly uneventful drive. Unlike our drive down the coast, we headed back to Washington further inland which wasn’t quite as scenic as our journey down – although the company more than made up for the less aesthetic scenery!

That’s not to say that parts of the drive weren’t pretty because they were. However with forest fires ravaging Northern California and Oregon it seemed that the further North we got, the sky would get hazier and hazier. The blue skies in San Francisco seemed a distant memory.

We made a couple of stops along the way to break up the drive and get some food but nothing noteworthy until we started getting closer to Mount Shasta. Shasta seemed largely unaffected by the fires; things had started brightening up and the blue skies had returned which provided a great opportunity to get some photos as we drove along.

Highway Photo — Snapping photos on the road

Klamath Falls Sign — Central Weed or Klamath Falls?

Eventually we arrived at a city in Oregon called Klamath Falls which seemed like a good halfway point to stop for the night. We did debate driving on to Bend but as that was another two hours away we sensibly decided that was a bit too far to go after already having spent the bulk of the day on the road.

Our first task in Klamath Falls was trying to find somewhere to stay. The first hotel we stumbled across had some pretty off-putting reviews so we decided to give it a miss and configured our SatNav to take us to another hotel nearby.

A short drive away we soon “arrived” at our alternative hotel option only to find nothing more than rubble and an empty carpark. The SatNav hadn’t been updated in a while and it seemed our hotel no longer existed!

Hoping it would be third time lucky our next hotel was unfortunately fully booked before we finally managed to book a room in the hotel next door – who knew finding somewhere to stay in Klamath Falls would be so difficult!?

To our delight our fourth choice hotel was actually quite nice. We checked in to our room for the evening only to find an in-room jacuzzi which was an unexpected surprise and something we definitely intended to make use of before leaving.

However the first priority was to go and find some food. We dropped off our things and visited a nearby Chinese restaurant which had some decent reviews. Much like the Chinese we’d had in San Francisco, the food was excellent but there was just so so much of it. We ended up giving our leftovers to a couple of guys embarking on a roadtrip we got talking to in a neighbouring booth as they had a van and the means to heat something up on the road.

If we’d been in town earlier I think there’s probably a bit to do in Klamath Falls, most notably seeing the nearby falls of the same name, but in the evening there didn’t seem to be much going on. It’s a sleepy little city with a population of little more than 20,000.

In the end we found ourselves a local bowling alley which was near empty and we played a couple of rounds. I maintained my success over Haleigh which felt just revenge for the constant Mario Kart beatings Haleigh served me on my first trip to Washington!

After a couple of games we returned to the hotel and put our jacuzzi to good use for the evening – definitely a nice little bonus to our stay in Klamath Falls. It was by no means the most exciting day on this trip but we’d anticipated as much, knowing it would mostly be a day of driving.

Sadly tomorrow would be more of the same but we did make one fun roadside stop that I think you’ll enjoy seeing photos of! Stay tuned for more on that!

Jason

P.S – if you want to read previous days from the trip, see below!
Day one – Chicago bound
Day two – exploring Chicago
Day three – Minneapolis
Day four – Why I visited Minneapolis!
Day five – New Orleans!
Day six – The real New Orleans!
Day seven – Goodbye New Orleans, Hello Washington
Day eight – Exploring Poulsbo!
Day nine – Wedding day!
Day ten – To Portland!
Day eleven – the actual 3-0!
Day twelve – Oregon City and Portland
Day thirteen – Walla Walla bound!
Day fourteen – Walla Walla
Day fifteen – The family BBQ!
Day sixteen – the Vegas finale!
Day seventeen – Back to Oregon!
Day eighteen – Exploring Oregon’s coast!
Day nineteen – California pit stop!
Day twenty – San Francisco bound!
Day twenty one – San Francisco begins!
Day twenty two – San Fran continued!
Day twenty three – Alcatraz!

The big 3-0: Day twenty three – Alcatraz!

Welcome back my dear readers! I hope you’re all doing well and feeling some optimism that there’s an end in sight to this crazy past 12 months.

Last time out on the blog I’d talked about more of my time in San Francisco and it’s time to continue with the “big 3-0” story as it nears its conclusion. Those of you that have been following along will know I was in the USA for 30 days, celebrating my 30th birthday, back in the summer of 2018.

We’d now covered a bit of ground in San Francisco and seen a few of the main landmarks in the city but there was one “must see” left for us to experience – Alcatraz!

I’d heard mixed reviews from people about Alcatraz but it was something myself and Haleigh were both keen to visit and see for ourselves. I’d sneakily bought tickets for Haleigh’s birthday which was a little tricky because everytime Haleigh hinted at buying tickets I was coy about doing so – “we’ll get it booked after the next payday..”

Alcatraz unsurprisingly sells out well in advance so it was one of few pre-planned attractions on this trip – along with the Chicago Skydeck which some of you will remember was a disaster and an attraction I ended up missing out on in the windy city at the start of the trip. I was hoping today wouldn’t be similar!

Anyway, we kicked off our day as we had so many times on this trip – fairly relaxed and without too much rushing around. For whatever reason we decided to take a different route in to the heart of San Fran today, deviating from our tried and tested journey on the one day we had concrete plans. Clever, right?

In hindsight it probably wasn’t the brightest idea we’ve had. We’d left our AirBnB in good time before heading over to Alcatraz but our spontaneous route put our plans in jeopardy a little. We stood waiting at this particular tram stop for an age.

Our wait did mean we got chatting to another couple at the stop but after a little small talk the discussion swerved to whether this tram was ever going to arrive! Eventually one came along but then kept going and whizzed by us – too busy on board to make a stop to pick people up – ahhh!

The minutes ticked by and ticked closer towards missing our Alcatraz boat! Eventually we had to accept we’d have to improvise further and get ourselves to the pier asap! We parted from our new friends who were heading elsewhere and managed to grab a taxi over to the pick-up-point.

The next dilemma was the tickets. I’d booked in advance, through the official website I’ll add, but their strange system had me feeling a little uneasy. For whatever reason you book your tickets online and they then need to send you two confirmation emails, the second once payment has been processed which for whatever reason isn’t instantaneous – unlike just about any other booking system on the planet.

They’d emailed me one confirmation and they took my money a little while after the actual booking which was of some relief but I’d envisaged some scenario where they’d deny all knowledge of my booking at the ticket office – which was only exacerbated further by the Chicago Skydeck debacle. I’d winged most of the trip – were the only two plans I’d really made both going to fall through?

The woman at the desk seemed frustrated that I was unable to provide the second confirmation email – as if it was somehow my fault and that this stupid system wasn’t the bigger cause of the confusion. However fortunately the details we had were seemingly enough for her to print our tickets and she seemed a little friendlier after locating them.

We took our tickets over to check in and were soon being waved on to our ferry. It slowly started filling up and then we were off!

As we inched closer and closer to Alcatraz I began to appreciate just how far off the mainland it actually is. It’s visible from San Francisco but it’s still a little way on the ferry – this island isn’t the quickest to get to and it starts to sink in how difficult it must have been to even think about escaping from. Good luck swimming in the cold and harsh waters of San Francisco Bay!

Each arriving boat to the island gets a little introduction and a welcome before you’re then left to explore at your own leisure. We grabbed a few photos from the outside before heading in.

Assuming that, like us, you start from the bottom one of the first rooms you’re likely to encounter are aimed at educating on the history of the island. It might purely be ignorance on my part but I don’t feel like Alcatraz’s past gets much coverage beyond its prison days.

It was fascinating to discover that people lived on the island at various times in its history with Native Americans notably occupying the island for almost two years in protest against the US government. It was really interesting to learn about and in one of the rooms there’s an educational video that plays in this dark room which we both watched.

As you explore more of the island you see homage to those days with graffiti and other landmarks that date back to their occupancy.

Today it’s part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is managed by the National Park Service which allows millions of people to visit every year. The luxury of being able to explore in your own time meant we could slowly admire the views from the island and check out a few points of interest before making our way up to the prison and undoubtedly Alcatraz’s biggest attraction.

Once you enter the prison area you’re handed a little device offering an audio tour. These rarely hold much interest for me and I usually abandon them pretty quickly and end up exploring without one.

However I have to say that I found that the audio tour really added to the experience. Throughout the tour you’re exposed to the history and various stories from Alcatraz and it really brought the prison to life for me – it’s remarkably well done I think and I’m glad I stuck this one out. As you walk around I couldn’t help but visualise what life behind bars would be like – see for yourself!

As my sad-faced-selfie shows, it’s not a life for me!

The tour takes you through a number of different areas within the prison. Towards the end of the tour you get taken outside for breathtaking views of San Francisco’s skyline which felt like a pretty apt way to round things off and really help transform you in to the life of a prisoner and how tempting it must have been having the city in plain view.

I thought the tour was incredible and worth every penny, or cent rather. Everyone has their own preferences of course but I have to say the mixed reviews I’d heard really surprised me. I couldn’t recommend it any higher and it’s a must-do on any trip to San Francisco in my opinion.

The view of San Francisco from Alcatraz Island

We popped in to the gift shop for a look at what was a wealth of merchandise and reading material from Alcatraz before slowly making our way back down the island and towards the ferry point. Fortunately we’d timed it pretty well and it was pretty much ready to board by the time we’d arrived.

The mood on the ferry back seemed a bit more pensive than the buzz and excitement that there had been when going to Alcatraz. Perhaps that’s just because it was later in the day and people had had enough adventure for one day but I think there was that added appreciation to be heading back to the mainland.

We’d escaped Alcatraz and were heading back to “the land of the free” . It felt nice knowing our time in Alcatraz had only been temporary. I think as a prisoner of Alcatraz I’d have preferred to have been more remote than the island actually is.

It is a bit of a journey on the ferry but to be that close to freedom and see it every day? That would be so agonising for me. I’d spend my days in envy knowing people were living such normal lives just across the water. I’m feeling pandemic envy as it is seeing people in NZ and Australia for example having a blast whilst we’re in day four billion of lockdown, sod that being a permanent feeling!

We made it back to sunny San Francisco and I do feel like I let out an illogical sigh of relief. Even with the stupid selfie, there was never a part of me that felt imprisoned but Alcatraz is its own little island and consequently very much a bubble. Even for a few hours its easy to forget that there’s a busy city in the backdrop.

After our Alcatraz adventure we decided to grab an early dinner. Our proximity to Pier 39 made it a convenient place to grab something as although a little touristy, there’s a good range of places to eat.

Unfortunately it seemed we picked rather poorly. I don’t know if it was just an off evening in the height of summer because the restaurant seemingly rates pretty highly in Google reviews. That certainly wasn’t our experience though with terrible food and the worst service I’ve suffered anywhere in the US – possibly anywhere altogether!

We’d pondered what to do with the rest of our evening but the unexpected extension on our meal time scuppered our plans a little bit and limited our options. It did dampen what had otherwise been a nice day.

In the end we decided to visit the ‘San Francisco Dungeons’. I’ve seen these in a few other cities – notably London, Edinburgh and Amsterdam but as yet had not visited any of them so I wasn’t 100% sure on what to expect.

It was surprisingly a lot more enjoyable than I’d anticipated. You’re led through a series of rooms where actors play out a number of different scenes depicting various locations throughout San Francisco. There’s a fair amount of audience interaction which makes it quite enjoyable and I’d say pretty family friendly too – albeit a little jumpy in parts.

Towards the end of the experience we were taken “back” to Alcatraz – just as myself and Haleigh thought we’d escaped that pesky island!! The penultimate room then saw everyone interrogated by a prison guard.

I’d managed to avoid all audience interaction up until now so as the guard did his final roll call, row by row, I had to reveal my identity and additionally reveal my accent to all which sent shockwaves around the room as they realised there was a Brit amongst them! I’m sure some witty comment from the guard followed at my expense but I can’t recall what it was now.

The final room saw us escape Alcatraz and head back outside. Overall it had been a surprisingly fun attraction and is something I’d consider doing in other cities – even if only in the UK.

From here we made the slow journey back to our AirBnB. We took a small detour somewhere to grab some food after the disappointment earlier in the day but that was pretty much it for San Fran – our final day in San Francisco was over!

Tomorrow morning marked the beginning of the goodbyes, the adventure was nearing its end. It was time to say goodbye to San Francisco and California and head back up North.

I’d said plenty of goodbyes on this trip already of course. Goodbye to Chicago, goodbye to Minneapolis, goodbye to friends in New Orleans but every one of those was different as more adventure beckoned.

This time it was different, the faint cries of reality were calling. Haleigh had to be back in Washington for the start of the school year, soon after I’d be heading back to England and time was sadly finally beginning to catch up with me.

Tomorrow we’d be saying goodbye to San Francisco and onwards to..

Well, we didn’t actually know. We knew we wouldn’t get all the way back to Moses Lake but we hadn’t actually booked any accommodation for the next night. Perhaps there was still some adventure left in this trip after all?

I guess you’ll have to stick with this series a little longer if you want to find out! Stay tuned!

Jason

P.S – if you want to read other posts from this trip, see links below!
Day one – Chicago bound
Day two – exploring Chicago
Day three – Minneapolis
Day four – Why I visited Minneapolis!
Day five – New Orleans!
Day six – The real New Orleans!
Day seven – Goodbye New Orleans, Hello Washington
Day eight – Exploring Poulsbo!
Day nine – Wedding day!
Day ten – To Portland!
Day eleven – the actual 3-0!
Day twelve – Oregon City and Portland
Day thirteen – Walla Walla bound!
Day fourteen – Walla Walla
Day fifteen – The family BBQ!
Day sixteen – the Vegas finale!
Day seventeen – Back to Oregon!
Day eighteen – Exploring Oregon’s coast!
Day nineteen – California pit stop!
Day twenty – San Francisco bound!
Day twenty one – San Francisco begins!
Day twenty two – San Fran continued!