France - April 2016

Paris

A full collection of the photos from this trip can be seen in Paris Flickr Album

The Guinness

There was no problem finding Guinness in Paris.  The challenge was deciding which of the many places selling the back stuff should we pick to spend the evening in.  There was a fair collection of the normal faux Irish bars but we ended up choosing  Autour du Moulin in the Montmartre district, a traditional French bar that both served Guinness and nice food.

The bar is so named as it stands next to Moulin de la Galette, also known as Blute-fin painted by Van Gough etc.

Cheers!  A Parisian Guinness.

Jeff, the barman, soon grasped why we were there and did the honors of picking out my next destination, Helsinki.

Angelitta pours us another Guinness

The Sights

Having based ourselves in the Montmartre district we found there was plenty to see and do there, certainly in terms of atmosphere. The area is full of cafes, craft and food outlets.  The tourist hotspots of Maotmartre include the large terraces in front of Sacre Coeur where touts sell anything from religious memorabilia to bottles of larger.  Around the corner from there is Place du Tertre where artists of seemingly every nationality sell their wares or entice passers by to have their portraits painted. It was a short walk from Montmartre down to the Pigalle area and the Moulin Rouge.

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre

One day we took in some of the more alternative sights of Paris such as the Père Lachaise cemetery, hunting down the tombs of Edith Piaf, Chopin and Oscar Wilde.

The tomb of Oscar Wilde designed by Jacob Epstein

On another day we visited some of the more traditional sights along the Seine before going to the Musée Curie, a museum celebrating the life and discoveries of Marie and Pierre Currie.

Marie Curie's desk at Musée Curie

Of course we couldn't completely ignore the traditional sights of the French capital so made sure we walked across Place de la Concorde, the Louvre, along the Seine and over to Notre Dame on  Île de la Cité.

Louvre

Transport

We took the train from Coventry to London then the Eurostar to Paris.  It almost went horribly wrong right at the beginning as there were no trains running between Birmingham and Coventry because of overhead line damage.  Fortunately we heard about this before leaving, left early and got a train to London just fine.

In Paris we used the metro sometimes which was pretty quiet.  I'm guessing that people were somewhat nervous of using it given the recent bombings in both Paris and Brussels.

Entrance to Abbesses metro

Accommodation

We stayed in a somewhat quirky hotel Hotel Jardins de Montmartre, with its colorfully decorated rooms and vertical gardens on the walls.  Each room is decorated differently and we ended up in  room where the theme was purple.  The friendly staff and complimentary afternoon coffee and cakes were most welcome.

Outside Hotel Jardins de Montmartre

Team Makeup

As you may have guessed there was little chance of me not taking Margaret with me to Paris in the springtime.  This had the advantage of course in that there were two of us to do the organizing and as usual Margaret found us somewhere ideal to stay.

Surprise, surprise!  I din't know who was going to turn up for a Guinness.  Lovely to meet up with old friends. 

Food

Montmartre offers some lovely small and quirky restaurants.  We particularly liked Bululu Arepera, a small Venezuelan restaurant that served arepas traditional Venezuelan cornflour flatbreads filled with avocado and black beans served with sweet potato chips. 

Place du Tertre - Painters of Montmartre

Quirky Moments

We met an American in the cemetery who was looking for Jim Morrison's grave.  We got onto talking about music and festivals and I was asked if I was at the Woodstock festival.  You know you are beginning to look a bit old when someone asks you a question like that.

............... and no we didn't buy one.

Something chemical seen on the side of a house.

Italy - January 2016

Rome

The Guinness

After the challenges of visiting Belarus and Armenia last autumn in search of Guinness this trip proved to be a lot more straightforward in terms of logistics and Guinness availability.  Rome is well served in terms of Guinness outlets, both Irish pubs and Italian bars.  The question was which should I choose to go to to have my pint in.

An afternoon Guinness in Trinity College bar

I'd been here previously a few years ago when the Vatican City got picked out.  Back then the staff at the Trinity College Bar had been very helpful and facilitated the whole Guinness in St Peter's Square experience from supplying the Guinness to providing a reporter.  It seemed a natural choice therefore to choose Trinity College Bar as the place to return to to have my Guinness this time.

Giovanni helps with my quest.

Sometimes when I try to explain to bar tenders the challenge I have set myself they have that worried look on their face that they are being taken for a ride.  And who can blame them.  A man walks into their bar, pulls out a tatty box containing short lengths of straw and claims that his next destination is wrapped up on a bit of paper in one of those straws, and if you don't mind, Mr Barman, please picking it out for me.  In fairness, I too would think it was some sort of drugs con and when that worry subsided I would still be concerned that this weird person was going to occupy their bar stool for the rest of the day.  Giovanni was one of those barman that just seemed a little somewhat nervous, happy to take part and have his photograph taken and take mine but still no doubt wondering to this day whether it was all genuine.  Giovanni did succumb to picking a straw that contained my next destination, Paris.

Yes, it is getting a bit tatty after visiting 42 countries.

Trinity College Bar

The Sights

Can you tire of a great city such as Rome.  I don't think you can.  Having said that I think this visit somewhat lacked the wow factor that my first visit held. That was almost inevitable, especially having seem the most famous sights last time.  I toyed with the idea of going outside the centre to the Appian Way and catacombs but just could't get enthusiastic about it, not In January anyway.  My weekend therefore was spend seeking out some new corners of this city as well as revisiting some others.

Michelanglo's sculpture of Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli

Wandering around without any sort of plan in a particular can be frustrating but does have its advantages.  For instance, when you wander past a building and follow some tourists to see where they are going, only to find its a church containing a Michelangelo sculpture, the chains that bound Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem and some very Gothic sculptures of skeletons.

Difficult to visit Rome without returning to some of the old favorites - the Colosseum.

Accommodation

I suppose I could have varied things by staying somewhere different this time but I stuck with what I knew.  I Dormienti is both central, clean, welcoming and good value for money.  It's on the lovely narrow Via Urbana in the Monti district with its eateries and quirky shops and  a stones throw from the Colosseum.

No, not my accommodation which looked very bland from the outside.  The morning winter sunshine however brought out the colours on some expensive Rome residences very well indeed. 

Transport 

The sameness of this trip to Rome compared to the last even extended to the flights.  I flew with Monarch from Birmingham  to Fiumicino Airport and from there caught the Leonardo Express train into the centre of Rome which was only a ten minute walk from my hotel. There's an efficient transport system within Rome including a metro but I didn't need at this time as I walked everywhere as the weather was good.

Carry on up the Tiber - heading to St Peter's Square.

Team Make Up


This turned out to be a solo trip. We had discussed making it a family holiday but circumstances conspired against in including one member of the family putting their passport in the washing machine. It may result in a clean passport but makes it difficult to read at the same time. February half term looked a possibility at one stage but the Six Nations rugby championship has started by then and England play Italy in Rome making the flights expensive. All in all that's why it ended up being a weekend visit by myself.

Santa Maria Maggiore

The Food


One of these trips I'm going to be able to write reams about the local delicacies and the fine restaurants, but not this time. I snacked all weekend on pizzas and paninis. They just taste so much better than they do in the UK and its so easy to pop in somewhere, order and have it warmed up for you there and then.

Quirky Moments

The phone charger I'd brought with me didn't seem to like the different voltage system. Stepping out from the hotel in the morning I realised I needed to keep my eyes open for a shop selling chargers. I didn't have too far to go. About three doors down from where I was staying was a phone accessory shop selling the latest cheap imports from China. Back in my room I unpacked the charger and plugged it in. BANG. Back to the shop I go with the charger still smoldering to be greeted by a bemused shop assistant. Before I could try the replacement I had to wipe off the scorch marks off the socket and get the hotel manager to reset the trip switched. Luckily the replacement worked a treat.

St Peter's Square after the Sunday morning crowds had dispersed.

Lasting Memories

The centre of Rome is just crammed with attractive buildings of interest. In fact, it's hard to find an ugly sight in Rome whatsoever.

More photos of the trip can be seen by clicking here

Armenia - November 2015

Yerevan

It's some 27 years since I was last in Yerevan, in the days of the USSR and if memory serves me correctly, alcohol was pretty scarce then .  How things have changed.  Yerevan is now a vibrant bustling city, full of cafes and bars and young people.  It's probably not a city that will ever be known for it's attractive skyline but don't be put off by that.  I found plenty of things to see and do during my visit.

A full collection of photos from the trip can be found on Flickr

Katoghike Church

The Guinness

I had a feeling from the very outset of my challenge, some twelve years ago, that Yerevan may be one of the most challenging places to find a Guinness in and so it proved to be.  Back then I recall trawling the internet and coming across a blog describing the scarcity of Guinness in the city.  I contacted Christian again who confirmed the situation was no easier now and Guinness hunting equally challenging.

For quite a while I felt optimistic I'd found a solution when I discovered that   BEERevan was advertising being the only outlet for draught Guinness in Yerevan and yes, they were kind enough to confirm that in a message to me.  They were also however kind enough to inform me the week before my trip that they had unfortunately run out.

It was therefore back to the fall-back plan of taking a couple of 'emergency' cans with me. Fortunately I was travelling Air France so didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for taking hold baggage.

National Gallery

In desperation I had contacted the Irish Consul in Yerevan asking if he knew anywhere serving Guinness but sadly not.  His alternative idea however made eminent sense, that I brought a few extra cans then we could indeed share them and the occasion together.

Plans however were somewhat blown apart by the arrival of Daniel, the young driver who my hostel had arranged to pick me up from the airport. Daniel was one of these people you trusted immediately and upon hearing my story took it upon himself to personally solve my dilemma. The next night we met up and set off in search of Guinness.  The first place drew a blank but Danial's experience as a bar owner in Yerevan came to the fore.  A few phone calls later and we were heading to the Irish Bar. From the depths of their fridge they did indeed drag out one cold Guinness glass and two bottles of Guinness.  Problem solved!  A very pleasant evening ensued, sampling the local beer and a Lebanese cocktail in another nearby bar and learning a lot more about Armenia and it's people.  Thank you Daniel.  

Enjoying a cool rare Guinness in the Irish Bar 

Daniel picks out Rome as my next destination.

At the end of my visit I kept to my prearranged plan of meeting up with the Irish Consul.  We had a lovely evening sampling Armenian wine and it was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of this fascinating country.   Many thanks.

I can certainly recommend a glass of Armenian wine in fine company.

The Sights

I had four full days in Yerevan.  I'd originally hoped to get out of the city on a tour but as it was low-season it was there didn't seem to be any running.  There was plenty to do I found in the city itself. Each day I explored in a different direction.  There's old churches, lots of art work and the inevitable monuments dating back to Soviet times.

I revisited the Genocide Memorial, again somewhere I'd been in 1987, but this time a new museum has been added that let's just sat, doesn't pull any punches.  It's not for the faint hearted.


I was staying close to the Opera house and for once I succeeded in getting a ticket for an event. Often I'm unlucky with timings or have just failed to find out how to get a ticket but here even the box office was prepared to deal with someone like me who spoke zero of the native language.  I saw soprano Anahit Nersisyan giving it her all.  There's a tradition in Armenia it seems to show your appreciation by gifting the singer a bunch of flowers at the end of songs.  The stage looked like a flower shop by the end of the concert.

Anahit Nersisyan, an Armenian now living in California, returns to Yerevan and gives it her all.

The Genocide Memorial and Eternal Flame

The Geocaching

As is often the case I set myself a target of finding at least one geocache in a new country.  They shouldn't have been too difficult in Armenia as there are 39 caches in the country, and about eight in or near central Yerevan.  After a couple of days however I had drawn a blank.  Either they had all been stolen or I had suddenly got very bad a geocaching.

An Armenian geocache sits proudly on top of an Armenian trig point.  What more could a man want!

My last hope was the Tsiternakaberd Hill cache.  It's a place where Armenians gather each year to remember the victims of the genocide. Although it's not far from the city as the crow flies it's a fair way to walk to via the roads and paths.  When I eventually got there I feared the worse as I couldn't find it for ten minute but then relief, I turned it up!

Accommodation

I stayed at the Envoy Hostel which is very central indeed.  Although I had my own room there was plenty of opportunity to meet other hostellers in the lounge area.  As is often the case, others were being much more adventurous than me and had either traveled over from Mongolia and through all the ...stans or had come up from Iran and were on their way back through Europe.

The Fat Cat and the Cascade

Food and Drink

Well, I think I've already mentioned the beer and wine, so that just leaves the food.  Again, I don't think I did the country justice and failed to track down a traditional Armenian meal.  There's a shawarma (kebab) restaurant Artashi Mot  not far from the hostel that serves some excellent food and is always busy.  I spent far too much time in there!

Getting there and back

There are no cheap flights from Western Europe to Armenia that I could find so I chose to fly Air France via Paris.  You would normally expect such a flight to be totally uneventful but not in this case.

About half an hour in to the Paris to Yerevan flight I heard shouting coming from the back of the plane, some seven rows behind me.  At first I thought it was someone having a bad dream or being ill.  On turning around I saw quite a commotion and bloody hand prints on the walls.  It turned out that an escorted prisoner attempted to slash himself, probably to avoid repatriation.  He was wrestled to the floor, patched up, bound up and tied to the toilet for the rest of the flight.  Enough to put you off your dinner.

On the way back I shared the Paris to Birmingham leg with the Stade Francais rugby team coming over to England to play Leicester.  This was poignant as it was the day preceding the shootings in Paris at Stade Francais that killed 130 people.

Yerevan Cathedral

Mother Armenia

Belarus - August 2015

Minsk

Belarus is like no other place I've visited.  As soon as I arrived it just felt different.  It's not the old Soviet architecture it's more the people.  There's a feeling of calmness everywhere you go.  There's no raised voices nor running around, just plenty of smiles.  The place is as clean as a whistle and jay-walking completely out of the question.  In all the time I was there I didn't hear one other native English speaker.

A full collection of photos from the trip are on Flikr

 The Opera Theater

Guinness

I was afraid that I'd find it difficult to find a Guinness in Minsk but I needn't have worried. There was a plentiful  supply there for those who want to go looking for it.  Before I set off I'd done a of research and contacted the Clever Irish Bar and had been assured it was well stocked with Guinness. Indeed it was and on arrival I had a very warm welcome from Stanislav who handles the PR for the bar and his friends.

Sharing a Guinness with Stanislav who picks out Yerevan, Arminia, as my next destination.

The Clever Irish bar is a bit out of the city center but worth a visit.  It's close to the classic Tsum Department store.  It's different from any other Irish bar I've been to abroad in that it doesn't have the regular Irish and British ex-pat community to draw on so everyone there seemed to be Belorussian. There's a good atmosphere and the food was just fine.  Look out for the collection of bras hanging behind the bar. There must be a story behind there.

Whiskey, football scarves and ............ women's underwear?

The Sights

I found that there was plenty to do in both Minsk in the time I was there.  I mainly walked between the sights with just the occasional use of the metro.  There's lots of the usual churches and Soviet style buildings but perhaps what I was most taken by were the sculptures.

I may not be a circus fan but I liked this sculpture.

I used both the Bradt guide and my hobby of Geocaching to dictate my route.  The best geocache I found was Bennies Belarus Box which took me to the Island of Tears and then St. Maria Magdalena Church.

Island of Teats, a moving memorial to those that lost their lives in Afghanistan

Mary Magdelene church

A ride up to the top floor of the Belorussian National Library offered a good view across the city.

National Library of Belarus

After spending three days in Minsk I moved on to Brest where the main attraction is the giant Fortress complex where troops held out for so long against advancing Nazi soldiers in WWII.  Some parts have been left untouched whilst giant stone sculptures sit alongside the restored church.  A visit there is a moving experience that's for sure.

Brest Fortress

Getting There and Around

Belarus is a fascinating country to visit, quite unlike any other European country I've ever been to.  It is however one of the few countries that people from the UK still require a visa to visit.  This is normally relatively straightforward, unless like me you make a number of administrative mistakes and end up having to pay twice.  Eventually I get it right. I used Prime Tour in Minsk to help with the arrangements and also relied heavily on the well-written Bradt guide to Belarus.

Flights directly to Minsk are quite pricey so I choose to fly with a budget airline to Kanaus in Lithuania and on my return via Katowice in Poland.  To get to Minsk from Lithuania I was forced to travel by bus after being informed that the train was fully booked.

Within Belarus I traveled by train from Minsk to Brest sharing the journey with some delightful Belorussians.  Finally I travel from Brest to Katowice on a Russian sleeper train inspired by reading an interesting article in 'hidden europe' magazine.

The Moscow to Nice train - my overnight accommodation on the way out of Belarus.

Quirky Moments

So much of this country is quirky from the point of view of an outsider.  At midnight, in Brest Station, whilst killing time for my train to Poland in the ornate waiting room with its giant golden chandeliers I met a few different sides of human nature.  I'd already visited the currency exchange to change my remaining Rubles into Euros when I remembered I needed a pee.  I was accosted on exiting the toilet by the attendant who berated me for not being able to hand over the full fee and short changing her by 100 rubles ( about 0.4p).  When I wandered outside to find the right platform I obviously turned the wrong way and bumped into an official who asked to see my ticket.  He led me away as if for further questioning but was in fact very kindly walking me a fair way to where I should have been, the International Departure Lounge.  He shook my hand and wished me a pleasant journey.

Saint Nicholas church Brest

Accommodation

In Minsk I stayed three nights in the 40 Let Pobyedi (40th Anniversary of Victory Day) Hotel.  It's at the lower end of the price range of Minsk hotels but was perfectly adequate for me.  You sit and eat your breakfast watching the military personnel arriving for work at their offices opposite.  There a lot of saluting going on.

40 Let Pobyedi Hotel in Minsk

In Brest I stayed in the Pyat Kolets Hotel which is built into the stands of the football stadium, a whole new experience for me.  Again, it is basic, clean, functional and the staff are welcoming and let me leave my luggage there for the day after I checked out..

Pyat Kolets Hotel in Brest - handy for a game.

The Food

Once again another trip goes by without me truly sampling the local cuisine.  I thought one night I was inside a Belorussian restaurant only to find it more of a German bierkeller.  My favorite food of the trip was had in the excellent Jules Verne restaurant in Brest where they served some delicious Indian cuisine.  The Times Cafe in Brest served up a sumptuous breakfast.

The potato pancake on this tasty breakfast was the closest I got the Belarus cuisine

Lasting Memories

As a somewhat nervous independent traveler with few linguistic skills, I left feeling a sense of achievement and having had an adventure in a country that uses the Cyrillic alphabet and not much English is spoken.  At no time however did it feel unsafe, in fact quite the opposite.