Category: Personal

Today was one of those days that when I try to think back what I did, I can’t really account for all the hours of the day. It’s a good thing – it gives me that vacation feeling that you get when you’re not really bound to do anything.

Anyway, what I do remember of this day is that I made some calls to take care of my return to Israel in a week. Then I went for a walk and even tried shopping a bit. That lasted exactly 15 minutes – it was way too crowded and I really don’t like shopping. Then I ate, napped a little and later on went to see the movie Watchmen. Going to the cinema is always a good way to pass a few hours. Watchmen is a great movie – not your typical comics-based-heroes-saving-the-world kind of movie.

Tomorrow I might try shopping again, considering that it’ll be less crowded on a Monday. And maybe another movie.

Still a cloudy and somewhat rainy day in not-so-bright Brighton, but I still went outside and walked quite a lot. Being a resort town for the rest of England, Brighton is pretty attuned to the tourists, offering mostly restaurants and niche shops crammed into narrow streets along with all the major names in fashion, all giving a nice cozy feeling for the visitors of the town. So walking around was a lot of fun but got me very tired.

One problem I have here is finding something to eat that isn’t horribly expensive or too fattening. It turned out to be quite an issue today. I ended up buying some relatively healthy food at the local supermarket instead of sitting in a restaurant as I would have liked to. I’m tired of going to pubs and getting fatty foods. And in Brighton the pubs are also expensive. I mean, I don’t mind paying extra money for good food, but getting both something I don’t really fancy and for a hefty price is out of the question.

At night I got out again after resting, only to find the same scene as last week’s in Cardiff – a lot of young adults are on the streets and in the various clubs. Once in a while you get to see a dressed up group going to a hen or a stag party (bachelor/ette party.) I walked around some more just to enjoy these sights, happened to catch on a pretty good fireworks show on the Brighton pier and went back to the guesthouse.

The Prodigy’s show is three days away. I have absolutely no idea what to do here for three days. I think I’ll try to find some kind of activity that will fill out an entire day. I might try to do some shopping although I hate it. I just know it’s a good opportunity before I get back home in a week. Also, my friend Adi who lives in London said he can come and meet me in Brighton so I’ll try to set this up. Adi will be coming with me to the fourth and last Prodigy show in Wembley Arena in six days.

Katz and I got up today, packed and went to the bus station. We said our goodbyes there and went our separate ways. Mine was a 6 hour bus ride to Brighton, a resort town on the south coast of England.

I arrived dead tired and very hungry, my body hurting from yesterday’s show (see video below) to rainy Brighton. The guesthouse I’m staying in (George IV) is very nice and homely so at least I have a nice place to stay. I did my traditional walking about to see what’s here, but most of the stores were already closed so I just ate and went back to my room. I’m done for tonight – it’s 10pm and I’m going to sleep soon after I take a shower.

I was lazy taking pictures today – the few pictures are from London’s Victoria coach bus station and the video was taken by someone else of yesterday’s Prodigy show. The video’s quality is crap but it’s nice just to see how the crowd goes crazy to the beat and then sings together.

Katz and I planned for a walk this morning, so we went out and did that. However, it started getting too windy and too cold to just walk around and we decided to head back and go do our laundry. It turned nicer outside so we went out for dinner and just to look around. Birmingham has a very nice city center with a lot of shopping/dining for whoever is interested.

The city probably has more tourist attractions than just eating or shopping, but both Katz and I are not interested. We like walking around and enjoying the atmosphere, especially now that it’s Easter and there are a lot of people out on the streets.

We took the 2.5 hours bus from Cardiff to Birmingham and arrived at our hotel, Nite Nite, where we have a really tiny yet very functional windowless room. We walked around a bit already and it turned out we’re pretty close to the city center and also near a very beautiful canal (pictures probably tomorrow.) We’re both tired so we’re just watching movies in the room tonight and tomorrow we’ll walk around to see what’s in this town. The Prodigy’s show is in two days and we already saw the arena where it’s going to be – just a 5 minute walk along the beautiful canal.

We got out this morning late because of yesterday’s show. The weather turned winter-ish on us after two beautiful days so we just went for an easy walk in the beautiful Bute Park (which surrounds Cardiff Castle.) I don’t have pictures because I forgot to take the camera. After that it started raining so we just spent the rest of the afternoon eating and napping. Later on we went to see a movie and now we’re packing for our trip to Birmingham tomorrow.

The hotel in Birmingham is 10 minutes walk from the arena, where The Prodigy’s show is. It’s going to be a little uncomfortable going to and especially from the show (being all sweaty and the fact that it’s almost freezing cold at night), but I’ll worry about that on Thursday, which is show day. Until then we have some time to hang out in Birmingham and hopefully we’ll find something to do in the two days we spend there.

The ride to Cardiff was OK, except for two delays of the bus service. We got to Cardiff and after looking for a while for our hotel we settled in and went outside. The hotel is located right in the city center, which has castles, parks, river(s) and a very vibrant night life. We experienced the night life by walking the streets and getting into two of the pubs. There are a lot of bachelor parties, called here hen parties (for women) and stag parties (for men.) For the party the participants usually decide on a theme (e.g. supermen, nurses, bunnies) and dress accordingly so it’s pretty colorful on the streets of the city center.

Tomorrow is The Prodigy’s show. The show is right across the street from our hotel. I’m very excited about it, knowing that I’m going to have the best time. It’s also Katz’s birthday tomorrow and per her request we’re going to try and find a place where we can rent a boat and row a little on the river.

Everything went according to plan today, meaning that we did absolutely nothing but relaxing in the house and getting ready for our bus ride to Cardiff tomorrow. In the evening I took Katz and our generous friend and host, J.C, out to a nice dinner in a pub in Wakefield, which is a 20 minutes drive away.

So tomorrow I get back on the road again. Just for a 6 hour bus ride, but still. Cardiff, which is the capital of Wales, is supposed to have quite a few tourist attractions and generally be a nice city to visit, so I’m hoping for a good time there as well. And of course there’s my first Prodigy show 2 days from now, which happens to fall on Katz’s birthday. I’m excited about both.