Vacation!! London, Dublin, Barcelona. Tips? Hotspots?.. Ladies?

[Joey]

Going overseas for a Two Week jaunt in London, Dublin, Barcelona.
Anybody have any recommendations of anywhere to check out? I know the basics, and have done my reading, but somethings you won't find out from the Tourist Brochures .. y'know? haha

I'll be gone during the Draft which kinda sucks , but I'll definitely be following everything very closely with my Trusty iPhone, and wifi in every McDonalds ... looks like I'll be getting lots of Cheeseburgers and McFlurries ...

[Doc]

Everywhere in London is fantastic. If your a history buff at all, most of the relevant stuff is around the immediate downtown portion of London. All which is easily accessible via the Tube. If your an english soccer fan and want to check out some nice football stadiums check out Stamford Bridge in Chelsea which is a really nice part of London and Arsenal in the east end. Also, Notting Hill is a great and trendy area too. Lots of great markets around there. Most of all, enjoy the pubs.

Never been to either Dublin or Barcelona so I can't recommend anything from either. I suppose the Guiness Brewery in Dublin is a must see, but that's about it frome me.

[heinz57]

NICE ONE!!! I used to live in London.. awesome place.. and always wanted to go to Dublin & Barcelona

if you want to go to an affordable footie match.. there's Millwall in SE London, in South Bermondsey... or Crystal Palace in penge common..

for the most part, you'll want to stay in the westend (downtown).. the museums are free.. the partying is ALRIGHT.. but if you want REAL partying (and are a little brave), go south to Brixton.. Mass & Brixton Academy were THE spots in Brixton when i was there..

remember, pubs close at 11am.. but the beer is cheap.. but clubs are open all night long and dont really stop serving booze, but the beer is pricey

Soho is damn cool part of the westend to hang out in.. awesome shops, clubs, lounges, etc... but if you drift a little too far north... you'll start to feel like you're at church & wellesley

Don't listen to people who tell you to go to Fabric, or Hippodrome, or one of the other "mega clubs" in the west end... the people are packed in like sardines... ruins any enjoyment to be had

DO NOT buy coffee at the starbucks there... it costs an arm and a leg... the coffee at McDonald's and Burger King are pretty awesome.

if you're eating the fast food route, i suggest Morleys Chicken, Chicken Cottage, Texas Chicken & Ribs, and the other thousands of fried chicken and rib places in london.. you can get meals for pennies.. it aint good for you at all... but hey it's cheap

random doors with a "model" sign in the front means hookers.

if you're planning on doing some shopping.. you cant go wrong with Carnaby Lane... its right near leicester square

whereabouts in london are you staying?

[heinz57]

oh.... and in london, just a warning... their definition of HOT WOMEN and ours, are two completely different things.

remember, when you're not in Toronto, don't have Toronto standards.

[RaptorDan]

Do you need a nice friendly B&B to stay in in Dublin? If so, I'll try and scrounge for the name and phone number of a place my wife and I stayed at. Friendliest and nicest people you can meet, who will give you the low down on everywhere to go.

Dublin isn't a particularly pretty town and won't be as exciting as London or Barcelona. I did find the people to be much friendlier, and as Heinz points out, the women will be much more attractive in Ireland and Spain.

I was in Barcelona, and I really enjoyed touring all the Gaudi stuff - the park, buildings and church. Dude was seriously demented. I was there for a week or so and pretty much did the guide book thing, so no huge insights.

Do you golf? Dublin has some very nice courses. I think it was at Royal Dublin, where they have a castle on the grounds and the course plays along the ocean. Very pretty views.

[heinz57]

i was at a bar in london once.. talking to some minge... and my buddy who i was there with, kept texting me "GET OUT NOW! ABORT ABORT!" type stuff... bu i was pretty sauced and didnt quite get it...

she stops talking, tells me to wait... walks over to a table with an ashtray, reaches in her mouth, PULLS OUT A TOOTH, drops it in the ashtray, comes back over... and i finally realized i was talking to a gummer.

never bought into the "british have bad teeth" stereotype until that moment

god bless south london.

[ceez]

barcelona was awesome. i was with my pregnant wife so i can't really tell you where the "hotspots" are but you'll love the city. try some paella.

[heinz57]

a couple more random london tips:

of all the free museums, the natural history museum is by far the coolest.. the tate modern is cool if you're into interprative artsy pretentious douchey art.. i am, but i know people who loathed it

if you get the brave idea of walking the thames... DON'T... its LONG... the walk between waterloo and the london bridge is excruciatingly boring and will eat up an entire day... just go to waterloo, take the short jaunt over to the eye, snap your pictures of it, get some pics of the abbey.. watch the skateboarders under the bridge for a bit, then go right back to waterloo... the thames walk is overrated and a waste of time.. and it stinks like carcasses

ministry of sound and the imperial war museum are a bit off the beaten path (near elephant & caste), but very close to each other.. so if you plan to do both.. plan for a late museum visit, eating and pubbing in south london, then hit the club

there's a hindu temple in north london, that everyone raved about... like, it was a must see, the entire temple was built with donated money.. blah blah blah... DON'T GO. it sucks. and you're stuck in north london with nothing else to do anywhere nearby

if you ever get stuck in the middle of the night with the tube closed, and no idea where you are or how to get where you're going, look for a bus going to victoria... almost ALL parts of london has 24 hr buses that go to victoria... and once you get there, you can easily find a bus going to where you need to be

brick lane = dope curry

[heinz57]

oh, and if you want to get ridiculous drunk... head over to the pubs in hammersmith, west of westend london (westend is just what they call "downtown" london.. its not in the west at all).. for some reason that i've never quite figured out, maybe there's an abundance of hostels there, but there's always TONS of aussies and kiwis on their "year offs" around the area.. you'll be chugging entire pitchers in no time.

[ceez]

oh if you go to barcelona buy me a messi jersey. i'll give you money.

[Joey]

a couple more random london tips:

of all the free museums, the natural history museum is by far the coolest.. the tate modern is cool if you're into interprative artsy pretentious douchey art.. i am, but i know people who loathed it

if you get the brave idea of walking the thames... DON'T... its LONG... the walk between waterloo and the london bridge is excruciatingly boring and will eat up an entire day... just go to waterloo, take the short jaunt over to the eye, snap your pictures of it, get some pics of the abbey.. watch the skateboarders under the bridge for a bit, then go right back to waterloo... the thames walk is overrated and a waste of time.. and it stinks like carcasses

ministry of sound and the imperial war museum are a bit off the beaten path (near elephant & caste), but very close to each other.. so if you plan to do both.. plan for a late museum visit, eating and pubbing in south london, then hit the club

there's a hindu temple in north london, that everyone raved about... like, it was a must see, the entire temple was built with donated money.. blah blah blah... DON'T GO. it sucks. and you're stuck in north london with nothing else to do anywhere nearby

if you ever get stuck in the middle of the night with the tube closed, and no idea where you are or how to get where you're going, look for a bus going to victoria... almost ALL parts of london has 24 hr buses that go to victoria... and once you get there, you can easily find a bus going to where you need to be

brick lane = dope curry

Hah, Had a great time in London! Thanks for all the tips man! Brick Lane = HOLY SMOKES! So good. Tate was pretty cool as well.
Fishclub makes a MEAN fried Haddock. Greenwich actually pretty cool. Thames walk IS long. Ugh.

Covent Garden has a Canadian Bar that thinks serving Moosehead and having Hockey Jerseys suffices ... was nice having a Sleeman Honey Brown as an 'Import' though. haha

But overall great city! Barcelona was UNREAL as well. Wow. They celebrate the Summer Solstice every year, and just so happened to be the day after I got there. 200,000 people go to the beach to Party until 8am. Did NOT sleep much while there.

Ceez - totally would have grabbed you that jersey but didn't see that until I got back .. :S

[heinz57]

Covent Garden has a Canadian Bar that thinks serving Moosehead and having Hockey Jerseys suffices ... was nice having a Sleeman Honey Brown as an 'Import' though. haha

if its the bar im thinking of.. they'll make you a poutine too... not the greatest poutine... but if you spend a year there, ANY poutine will do you right

[Joey]

The Aftermath: $1,400 Phone Bill from Telus.

You've gotta be F***ing kidding me. They'll be hearing from me.

[Prime]

Turn off roaming. Every wireless provider in Canada charges ridiculous roaming rates.

see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300-page_iPhone_bill

[Joey]

I did! Thats the thing! Except for like 3 times to load some Maps. It's for 55MB .. 55!! haha
Ugh.

And that Wiki page is hilarious! Good to know!