Mark’s Blog

Category

Residence

You don’t know how much of an impact your place of residence, even if temporary has on you, your feelings, emotions and well-being. We have stayed in several Airbnb, hotels and homes away from home long before this adventure, but the one difference was, that we had a home to go back to. Not having a home with all the comforts it provides, is unsettling. We miss our beds, pillows and blankets, our rooms of retreat and quiet we each...

London, the NY of the UK

London. A city where everyone has a preconceived idea of what it is: larger than life, the central point of modern-day societies (literally Greenwich borough is longitude zero) and the significance, good and bad that surrounds it. Music, movies and media all propel this fantasy of London, England or “The Big Smoke” (a legal fog caused by coal burning).  While London is an interesting city, it is just another city to me that makes me claustrophobic. Seeing Big Ben, Parliament...

A Magical Place Called Edinburgh

All expectations of what I thought Scotland would present us were blowin’ out of the water. Edinburgh is simply magical! Our VRBO was 15 minutes from downtown with a bus stop at our front step. It has been our best location to date without actually being downtown (not sure if I would enjoy staying in the city centre just for the noise and all). Once entering Old Town, the heart of Edinburgh you are whisked away into another world: charming...

If The Streets Could Talk: Belfast

Belfast, Northern Ireland. If a city could talk, this one could tell a story. You can feel the animosity and see the wounds of the city: the 45′ peace wall, freedom corner, murals of fallen “soldiers” and the list goes on. You can tell it has tried to move on but Irish people hold tightly to their past. It is very different than Dublin, as the city has adopted more Western building styles. Not sure if it is better, but...

“Get Pissed”; Dublin

Our first country is in the books: Dublin, Ireland. Our first impression of Dublin was during our taxi ride to our Airbnb, I asked the taxi driver, “what’s the top thing we should do here in Dublin during our stay?” Without hesitation, he replied, “Get PISSED!” It was an interesting city but 4 nights was enough. Old, historic, broken down and fuelled by beer. If Brittany ever left me, you’d find me in Dublin drinking and smoking away my sorrows,...