Brandon O'Brien

Friday, August 9, 2013 @ 6:08 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 44

The hostel had a pub quiz night last night so I partnered up with a German couple for the game. We ended up losing pretty bad (a lot of the questions were UK focused). I fell asleep pretty quickly last night after hiking around the Brecon Beacons all day.

This morning I got up, ate, made a peanut butter + Nutella and blackcurrant jam sandwich for later and started working.

I wanted to use today to catch up on emails as well as plan out my next part of the journey. I'd been looking around on the map and was trying to figure out where might be a good place to go and people kept mentioning the Cornwall area of England. I did a little bit of Googling and eventually found the town of Newquay (remember, quay is pronounced 'key'). It's the surfing capital of the UK and it's also situated along some beautiful coastal cliffs with a lot of hikes and walks within reach.

I booked a hostel for 7 nights and then set out to get my bus ticket. Since National Express gave me issues on the website last time, I just walked down to the coach station and got my ticket. On Monday I'll be on buses for almost 8 hours, even though distance wise it's not very far. The joys of traveling to a smaller destination and using public transport.

I read in Bute park for a little while but it started to cloud up and cool off so I went over to the Cardiff Market and got some fresh raw prawns (shrimp), a lemon and some sun dried tomato/mozzarella filled ravioli for dinner.

When I got back I read for a bit, showered and then made dinner. It turned out really good! I think it's one of the tastiest dinners I've made so far. I melted some butter and olive oil in a pan, threw in some garlic, shrimp and lemon juice and then after the ravioli cooked, I threw them in as well to let everything meld together.

It's Friday night and it sounds like the hostel bar is getting busy so I'll head over there and have a drink or two. Tomorrow I'm going to head back up to the Brecon Beacons and do a slightly different route that hits a few more peaks. I'm just going to get the 10:20 bus so I can take tomorrow morning easy.

Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Thursday, August 8, 2013 @ 7:40 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 43

Today was another one of those awesome days that makes me thankful I'm able to be on this trip. Brecon Beacons National Park is a giant park in South Wales home to several tall peaks. I originally wanted to find a hostel up here and hike around but due to unavailability with them, I was forced to stay down in Cardiff instead.

That wasn't really an issue though. After doing some research I found out there are buses that run fairly regularly up to the park from Cardiff. In case anyone finds this blog post on the internet or has this question, in order to get to Brecon from Cardiff, you need the T4 bus from Cardiff Central Bus Station. This runs Monday - Saturday at 2 hour intervals. You can get the Explorer ticket for 7.30 pounds which lets you hop on and off the bus system all day. If you're traveling on Sunday, you need the B1 bus.

After looking at several of the trails, I picked Storey Arms as my starting and ending point. The T4 bus makes stops here and it's a great trailhead for Corn Du and Pen y Fen (the highest peak in the park at 886 meters).

I made the mistake of reading the wrong bus schedule (I was reading the Sunday schedule) and missed the first T4 bus. I had to sit around and wait until 10:20 to catch the next T4. This got me up to Storey Arms just before noon.

The hike starts off at a pretty standard incline which brings you up to a really nice viewing area of Corn Du and the surrounding area. You then descend down to a stream before making a really good climb up to the peak. The last 400 meters are extremely steep (or you can take the easy way via a side trail that goes around the back).

When I got to the top, dark clouds were rolling in and I was convinced I was going to get rained on. Rather than sit around there and get wet I set off to Pen y Fan. That peak isn't too far away and has some great views. While I was there I had some lunch and admired the scenery.

Amazingly, the dark clouds blew by and I was left with some really nice blue skies. It was only about 1:00 by now and I didn't have to be back to the trailhead until 4:22 for the last bus back to Cardiff. There were some other trails I saw that went in roughly the right direction I needed to go (aka: not the opposite direction) so I set off for them.

The weather continued to improve and the views were absolutely amazing. I hiked until 2 when I decided to turn around. On the way back I passed pretty close to Corn Du summit so I went up there again to relax in the comfort of the views since the first time I was escaping the rain.

I hiked around aimlessly a little more just to kill some time then went back down to the trailhead. The bus was a little late but I made it back to Cardiff around 6pm. I had some curry chips (french fries covered in curry) on the way back to the hostel where I showered and did some ghetto laundry.

I really needed today to recharge me. Hiking around Cardiff has been nice but getting out and seeing some amazing views was a much welcome change.

Tomorrow I'll probably make a working day here at the hostel. There are a few lingering emails I need to clear up and I also need to research were I'm heading next. On Saturday I'm going to go back up to the Beacons if the weather is nice and try to find some more places to hike around.

Teaser photos:

View from Pen y Fan

Beautiful Ridgeline

Corn Du - Brecon Beacons National Park

View from Corn Du

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff, brecon beacons

Posted from: Wales

Wednesday, August 7, 2013 @ 4:37 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 42

Today I followed the River Taff Path down to Penarth. It's about a 5 mile walk along the river until you get near Penarth. Then it zig-zags around for a bit as you climb over the big hill that Penarth sits on to get to the pier on the other side.

Along the way there were a ton of blackberry bushes so I ate more than my fair share of them as I walked. I passed by a huge Tesco and went in to get something to snack on. I've seen some commercials for Yorkie bars, so I picked one up. It was pretty good! Chocolate, crisped rice and raisin all mixed together.

The Penarth Pier was a little disappointing. They were doing some construction on it and the ocean was pretty muddied up from all the recent rains. I ate a sandwich that I had made at the hostel and then set off back to Cardiff.

On the way back I took a slightly different route and crossed the Cardiff Barrage (basically a big bridge/flood control system for Cardiff Bay). I got to the Mermaid's Quay area and relaxed there in the shade for a little bit until it looked like it might rain.

Back at the hostel I've been messing around on my computer working on a few random projects. I have some leftover tikka masala that I'll have for dinner but I don't think that'll be enough to fill me up. I'll have to find something else to eat too. I did walk just shy of 10 miles, so I'm sure my body will be demanding more food.

Tomorrow I'm actually going to attempt to make it up to Brecon Beacons and do some hiking. Hopefully I don't get rained on!

Teaser photos:

A handful of blackberries

Artificial white water rapids course

Penarth Pier

Cardiff Bay

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff, penarth

Posted from: Wales

Tuesday, August 6, 2013 @ 2:47 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 41

It looked like it was supposed to be raining in the Brecon Beacons today so I used that as an excuse to explore more of Cardiff. I started by walking through Bute Park (it's a huge, nearly 2 mile long park) along the River Taff. There were some cool tree carvings and rock formations along the way.

Once I reached the end of the park I made my way back (altering my course just a little bit so I'd see different stuff) and made it back into town for lunch. After lunch I went to check out the National Museum here in Cardiff. It's free to enter and has several exhibits and art galleries. The ground floor has human history, history of Wales and some geological exhibits. The second floor has several different art galleries which included pieces of Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh.

Because of my encounter with the rain yesterday I wanted to get a better waterproof jacket. There's a place in town called Mountain Warehouse and it seemed to have some pretty good deals. I went in and picked up a nice rain jacket with hood for 34 pounds (about $50 USD). Hopefully if I get caught in the rain again it'll help keep me dry.

I went back to the big market and picked up another small chicken breast so I can cook it up for dinner then came back to the hostel. I was thinking about walking back down to the Cardiff Bay but might save that for after dinner if the weather still looks nice.

Teaser photos:

Tree Sculpture in Bute Park

Bridge in Bute Park

Moon rock at Cardiff National Museum

Cardiff market

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Monday, August 5, 2013 @ 7:27 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 40

It rained pretty much the entire day again today. I checked out of the Bunkhouse hostel at 10 and stuck around there until around 11:15 when I started to get hungry. On the way to the NosDa hostel I stopped at a place called Greggs and got a Cornish Pasty. It's basically a light dough filled with random stuff. I think mine had potato, onion and meat of some kind. It was pretty good though.

I dropped my bag off at the hostel since I couldn't check in until 2 and set off to explore around a bit. First, I went to the National Museum but it's closed on Mondays. After that I just aimlessly walked around the city center going into random shops to avoid the rain.

Eventually I went through a market where I picked up some veggies and chicken for dinner. I got some tikka masala sauce and olive oil at Sainsbury's so I could make a nice dinner. On the way back to the hostel it started absolutely pouring down rain. Luckily I was near a bus stop so I ducked into it for about 20 minutes until the rain let up.

After checking into the hostel (behind a group of about 20 french kids), I checked some emails and had a cider at the hostel bar. I think I reached some kind of limit on my SIM card because the internet it's providing seems to be throttled pretty hard.

The rain and clouds broke so I took my chances and ran out to get some cash and enjoy the sun. It started looking ominous again so I came back and made dinner (which tasted really good!). I picked up some naan on the way to the hostel too to accompany the dinner. It was a good choice.

I might head out again and walk around since it looks nice again. Weather looks crappy for tomorrow so I'll probably put my hiking in Breacon Beacons on hold for another day.

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Sunday, August 4, 2013 @ 5:47 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 39

Today was a rather uneventful day. From the time I woke up until now (almost 6pm), it's been raining almost non stop. There have been a few spurts of maybe an hour combined all day where the rain has let off.

I was originally planning on heading down to do some exploring around the Cardiff Bay, but the rain changed those plans. My next choice was the National Museum since it's free and it would be indoors the whole time, but I never got a chance to get there without getting drenched.

Instead, I spent an hour or so this afternoon trying to figure out my next plan of attack. I was researching hostels up in the Brecon Beacons National Park but all of them were either in the middle of nowhere or they had spotty availability. Not good. I overheard the girl working reception say that she was planning on going up to Brecon Beacons after work today but had to nix that due to the rain. That got me thinking... maybe I can hop on a bus from Cardiff and get there and make a few day trips out of it.

Sure enough, there are several buses that run each day that run round trips through the park to and from Cardiff. That was enough to sell me. I didn't really like how this hostel doesn't have a full kitchen, so I found another one down the street that has a kitchen and more of a lounge area that isn't an active bar and booked it for a full week (7 nights for the cost of 5, wohoo!).

Tomorrow I'll check out of the Bunkhouse Hostel and head over to the NosDa Hostel where I'll spend the next 7 nights. The weather is also supposed to clear up so I'll do several day trips up to the Beacons for some hiking on various summits. It also helps satisfy my earlier desire to stay in one spot for a while. I still might head back to Bristol after my stay here, but who knows. Maybe by then I'll have talked to some other people who gave me some info on somewhere better to go.

I don't really feel like drinking again tonight but I'll probably go down and order a drink and chill in the bar/pub/hostel lounge for a while since I don't want to venture out into the rain and don't feel like going to bed at 6pm.

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Saturday, August 3, 2013 @ 8:25 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 38

Since the Rock & Bowl hostel was booked for Saturday night when I was making plans earlier in the week, I had to figure out where else to go. Cardiff, Wales was on my list of places to visit and it wasn't very far from Bristol. I checked and they had a hostel with availability for Saturday night so I booked it.

I made myself a sandwich and checked out of the hostel. I was going to read for a bit in one of the parks but the ground was wet from some rain earlier. I ended up going to the train station where I had a cup of coffee and read for a little while.

Eventually I got on the train and after a short ride I was in Cardiff. The Cardiff Central train station is basically smack dab in the middle of all the action. It was only a few minutes walk to the hostel which is also in the center of everything.

I checked in, walked around the city center for a bit, had a couple beers, then got some chinese food for dinner. I decided to walk down to the Cardiff Bay to see some of the sights there. Doctor Who films quite a bit around Cardiff and the bay area is one place that's featured regularly. Unfortunately there was a big festival set up where most of the scenes were shot so I wasn't able to get a good photo.

I'm back at the hostel now and I'll probably go down and get another drink at the hostel bar and hang out for a while. Tomorrow I need to spend some time figuring out where I'm going to spend next week.

Teaser photos:

Cool sculpture in Cardiff

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Friday, August 2, 2013 @ 4:22 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 37

After the long walk yesterday I knew I wanted to take today a little easy. I got up, ate and then did some very much needed laundry. Washing things in sinks without proper soap only goes so far.

Once that was finished and I ate lunch, I loaded a map on my phone of all the nearby spots that Banksy had done some work. It was a little frustrating at first because the map doesn't really give you precisely where the works are, but rather a general area. I spent quite a bit of time hunting around but finally found a few. Unfortunately some of the works were covered over or were behind construction equipment. I did get to see a few good ones though.

I read in the College Green park for a bit but decided to head back to the hostel for the rest of the afternoon. It was a little noisy in the park and it kept looking like it was going to rain.

Tomorrow I head to Cardiff for a few nights. I'm hoping that once I'm there I can investigate a place to stay for a couple weeks so I don't have to constantly be on the move. It would be nice to spend some quality time in a city without having to think about where I'm heading to next.

Teaser photos:

Banksy's work

Banksy - Mild Mild West

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Tags: daily journal, bristol, england, banksy

Posted from: England

Thursday, August 1, 2013 @ 7:43 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 36

Walking. Lots of walking. I got up at 7:30 this morning and was out the door by 9am after eating and answering some emails. It took me about 20 minutes to make it to the Bristol-Bath Railway Path and once I was on there, it was 16 miles of uninterrupted paved pathway all the way to Bath.

The path reminded me a lot of the Monon Trail in Indianapolis, IN. A nice mix of shade and sun with some nice scenery and river crossings along the way. Next to the path for quite a distance were blackberry and raspberry plants. Unfortunately they weren't all ripe but I was able to pick a few and eat them along the way.

I stopped a few times along the way to snack or have some water. It was about 1:30 by the time I made it into Bath's city center. I was thoroughly exhausted by this point. I got some cash from an ATM, bought some ice cream and a peanut butter cookie and enjoyed that in a park in Bath.

I saw the outside of the roman baths and the Bath Abbey again. I didn't need to pay another 12 pounds to enter the baths since I saw it 2 years ago when Eric and I were there. The town was definitely much more busy this time than when I was here last time. I'm not sure if it was due to the time of the year or the amazing weather we've been having here, but the tourists were out in force.

Rather than walk another 17 miles back to Bristol, I got on a bus which dropped me off not too far from the hostel. I picked up a locally made sausage for dinner and some bread to make a sandwich for tomorrow's lunch.

When I got back to the hostel I immediately took a much needed shower and then answered some emails and have been relaxing with some beers and dinner since then. I have a feeling I'll be passing out early tonight!

Tomorrow I'm going to walk around Bristol and check out some of Banksy's art on the streets. I also need to do some much needed laundry before I leave here. They've got a washer and dryer that I can pay to use. I definitely need to take advantage of that.

Teaser photos:

Walking to Bath

Bath Abbey and Pump House

Bath, England

Tons of berries along the walk

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Tags: daily journal, england, bristol, bath

Posted from: England

Wednesday, July 31, 2013 @ 6:46 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 35

I got up at 7:30 today so I could get an early start on walking around and exploring Bristol. I was originally thinking about walking down to Bath via the old railway path today but the forecast was calling for 70% chance of rain. Staying closer to buildings and the hostel seemed like the wiser choice.

The first place I visited was the Clifton area. In this section of town they have the suspension bridge, a giant park and an old observatory (which is now being sold to the highest bidder). It was a big gloomy during the 2 mile walk over there but I passed through some really nice areas of towns full of cafes and outdoor fresh food stalls.

There's a big tower on top of Brandon Hill here that's dedicated to John Cabot who set sail from Bristol and first landed in Canada. I walked around there an took a few pics but it started to rain. Being a little too early for lunch and not wanting to go into the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery before eating, I made the logical choice of going to a cafe and getting a cappuccino and waiting for the rain to die down.

In order to kill a little more time before lunch I walked down to the Town Hall, Bristol Cathedral and City Library. The area was really nice and the library looked like it was several hundred years old (a really cool exterior)!

For lunch, I found a place that was advertising cheap paninis that came with chips (fries) and a small salad. I went in and ordered a chicken fajita panini served with guacamole. It was delicious! And for less than 5 pounds it was a pretty good deal.

The Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery was free to enter and had a wide range of exhibits. I learned about local wildlife, ancient Egyptians, dinosaurs, minerals, fossils, and more. For some reason I thought they had an exhibit on Banksy (the graffiti artist) but they didn't. Not sure where I thought I saw that.

After leaving the museum, I went down to Queen Square when it started to rain again. That's when I saw that the St Mary Redcliffe church was free to enter. It would get me out of the rain and also let me see some really cool old church architecture. The stained glass and arched ceilings were really nice to see.

For some reason I started craving an omelette last night so on my way back to the hostel I swung by the St Nicholas outdoor market looking to buy some local cheese, eggs and sausage. Unfortunately everyone selling eggs had already left but I did get some local cheese and sausage. I went to the grocery and picked up some eggs.

I still had a few hours before dinner so I caught up on a little work and read for a while. I made my omelette (also threw in some orange bell pepper) and now I'm just hanging out in the lounge area at the hostel. I'll probably run out and grab some beer and bring it back.

Tomorrow I'm going to walk the 13 mile path from Bristol to Bath. I was in Bath a couple years ago with Eric and it was a really nice town. We only got to spend about an hour there before we had to be back on our tour bus though. The jury's still out if I should attempt to walk the path back or take a bus. I have a feeling I'll probably take a bus back to Bristol. 26+ miles in one day would be quite a lot!

Teaser photos:

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill

Bristol Cathedral

St Mary Redcliffe Church

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Tags: daily journal, bristol, england

Posted from: England