The Good Pub Guide

On my travels i've stopped for a beverage from time to time, here's some of my favourites.

The Dove, London, England

A few minutes away from London Fields, The Dove stocks 100 Belgian beers and also has a few English ales on pump. 100 Belgian beers. In the middle of East London. Does this really need anymore explanation? Try Saison 1900 and Satan Gold.

Jekyll and Hyde, Edinburgh, Scotland

Awesome decor. Toilets can be tricky to find.

Ardview Inn, Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland

Biggest selection of whisky i've ever seen in a pub, friendly staff and locals. Try the Bruichladdich Octomore if you dare.

Het Elfde Gebod, Antwerp, Belgium

Decorated with statues and art collected from churches over the course of 30 years. Saints tower over you as you sip beer that's unlikely to be found anywhere else.

Bauhaus/ The Crash, Bruges, Belgium

Get to know some new friends in the bar of Bauhaus hostel, with giant's melted candle and a clock going backwards, then move over the road to The Crash for rock and/or roll until no one's left standing.

Cafe Olivier, Utrecht, Netherlands

Serving a wide selection of Belgian beer in an old church complete with organ. Good food too.

Excalibur, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Biker bar in the red light district. Good music and suits of armour.

Jazz Rock Cafe, Krakow, Poland

Dark, metal design. Good beer, good music, good atmosphere.

Zly Casy, Prague, Czech Republic

Best selection of Czech beer around, with great snacks.

Prague

Some people think hostels are dirty, crowded, run down shit holes. These people deserve to miss out on having a swimming pool, sauna and bar for under £10 a night. This is what you get at Plus Prague. Just a 5 minute walk away from Nádraží Holešovic metro station, it takes a total of 15 minutes to get to the centre of Prague. However the breakfast isn't free and you can get more, better food by waiting until you get to the metro station and visiting Mr Baker, a wide variety of delicious baked goods, mostly for under £1 each, also home to Andy's Pizza for slices under £1. Any bakery in Eastern Europe is well worth a visit, I recommend one of everything.

In the shopping district there are plenty of sausage stands with big, awesome sausages and mulled wine. Mulled wine is available all over town, the best is at the entrance to the vineyard by Prague Castle. Potrefena Husa has cheap Czech food in massive portions.

I believe walking is the best way to see a city. Prague is a perfect walking city. Stick to the main roads and it's easy to see all the main attractions, wander off through the side streets to find traditional goulash, little local bars and interesting shops. If you want a guided tour, I have always found New Europe tours an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Although these tours are 'free', the guides are actually charged around 3 euros for each person who starts the tour, so please give them at least 5 euros, in my experience it's more than worth it.

From the old town, cross the spectacular (and spectacularly crowded!) Charles Bridge with it's 30 statues and countless tourist trap souvenir stands (although there are a couple of jewellery stands worth checking out), and start the climb to Prague Castle. I found the Old Castle steps a much easier ascent. The view from the top is well worth the effort, it's the best view of Prague for free. In the middle of the castle grounds is the stunning St Vitus's Cathedral. You can't buy tickets for just entrance cathedral, but must buy a combination ticket which gives you access to the Basilica and other parts of the castle. Unless you are on a very tight budget, do it! Among the highlights are stained glass windows by Alfons Mucha in the cathedral.

Of course, one of the best things about this part of the world is the quality of beer available for prices so small, it would be an insult not to over-indulge. The best place for this is Zly Casy - 24 beers on tap, constanting changing, features many you won't find anywhere else and also has tasty cheap snacks. For something a bit different try BED - just off the main square, does exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of chairs, there's beds, but no shoes on the furniture, please. Live music is never far away. Depending on the night, Matrix is good for Heavy Metal or Drum and Bass. Cross Club has a mix of music in some of the coolest club rooms you will ever see. Seats from buses, trams and trains, fans made form car window wipers, turning engines hanging from the ceiling and and entrance made from exhausts and vehicular bits and bobs. Warning: Keep your bags in your sight, unfortunately there's not much in the way of security here, which can ruin a great night and interesting club.

Kutna Hora - lots of bones

One must-do day out is Kutna Hora. You can choose to go with an organised tour, or pay a small fraction of the price to get the frequent train and explore the small town yourself. It's a short walk to the Ossuary (bone chapel) which is decorated with the bones of around 70,000 people (and one bird). Skulls are arranged in 4 huge pyramids, while in the centre is a chandelier that utilises every bone in the human body. A walk through town will take you to St Barbara's church. Outside is a great view overlooking the town, inside are huge murals, great architecture and an amazing organ.

European Medley

In Venice i had to provide the ticket office with a timetable, apparently selling tickets and knowing what time train they're for is too much to handle.

In Auschwitz people were posing for photos. I think they may have missed the point...

Due to a government law, Italian internet cafes have to take a photocopy of your passport being giving internet access!

Ran into some Aussies in Venice that i'd met a month or so earlier in Edinburgh on a pub crawl! Didn't realise the first time we walked past eachother as i was distracted by Bo's t-shirt: 'To err is human, to arr is pirate'

Absinthne, agua and lime makes an awesome cocktail.

'One more for the road' is a dangerous saying when forever on the road!

Falafel.

Lots of people have just they're elbow tattooed. Others have all their arm except their elbow tattooed. Do they even out?

I spend far too much money when i go in a bookshop.

Going from Stockholm to Prague we had to change trains in Berlin. We should have had half an hour to make it to the next platform. Neither the lady in our cabin nor the conductor bothered to wake us up. I woke up with 8 minutes til the next train left. As we ran on, the doors closed about half a second behind us!

Lifts can be good places to pass a couple of hours at a train station when it's cold outside.

Hostels

I have now stayed in a stupid amount of hostels. Here's some of the best:

Bauhaus, Bruges
It's in Bruges (it's in Belgium), which automatically makes it awesome. The staff are all cool, and can be found in the bar when not working. The bar is great. A big clock that goes backwards, huge masses of melted candles, a good selection of beer, happy hour 1euro beer, and easy to meet fellow travellers. Once the bar closes move across the street to The Crash, which stays open for as long as you can drink, probably longer.

Af Chapman, Stockholm
It's in Stockholm. It's a boat. 'nuff said.

Goat Hostel, Budapest
Crazy (in the best way) staff. Projector for films. Free popcorn. Laid back. 24hour shop opposite. A few metres from the Danube.

ROOM Hostel, Rotterdam
Every room has a different theme. Most comfortable cushions in the world. Good bar with cheap jugs of beer. Near the water.

Hostel Celica, Ljubljana
Former military prison. Nice rooms. Meditation room. Bar with a different event every night. Live music.

Peanut Butter

Seems not to exist in most countries. Houmous is also hard to find.

+/-

+ Falafel burgers with chili sauce. Divine, best burger i've ever eaten.

- Take a number. What's wrong with the old fashioned queue in a line? With take a number you never know how long you'll have to wait as people take one, see it's far away and leave. So when your number is 30 away, there could be anywhere between 1 and 30 people before you.

+ White chocolate Lion bars. All chocolate bars should be these.

- Green man lights should mean it's safe to cross the road. Not that traffic could still appear any second.

+ Student discount. If you have a student card, whether you're still a student or not, ask for discount. Most places don't check it's valid. Some don't even ask to see the card so try even if you don't have one.

- Scaffolding/road works. Around every monument/statue/interesting building there seems to be some kind of building works spoiling it. Just give it a rest and be content with the world we have for a minute.

Journey to the Cabin

First i skate around the edge of vast lakes, full to the brim of bone chilling water. Then i must dance across the undulating landscape, never sure if my foot will find snow, ice or water. A small jump over marshland finds a makeshift bridge of wooden slats, ready to crumble without warning. Next is the ice walk. I hope for a snow flurry to provide a little grip. Clinging to whatever my flailing arms can reach, I slip and slide along the clear ice, cracks forming with every step. I make a desperate lunge for the safety of my porch, as the ice i tread on breaks away into the depths, and hold fast. With a deep exhale i dive into the warmth of what I must call home for the night.

Rant medley

1. Tourist information offices are must useful when; a) located near the main transport hub
b) open after the main bus of the day gets to town

2. While keeping roads free of snow when it falls for a large chunk of the year is impressive, how about doing the same for pavements? A choice between walking on ice and getting run over is not a good one.

3. Tourism may increase if attractions are open for more than 4 or 5 hours a day. Oh, and please stop closing everything on Monday.

4. Town planning. Planning implies some kind of forethought and logic. This seems to be missing. While we're on the subject, street signs are very useful, just give it a try.

5. It's useful when maps given to tourists actually cover a big enough area of the town to include everything that is advertised.

6. Trams. I hate trams. There does not need to be yet another obstacle to crossing the road. Also, if you stop accepting cash payment, take the on board ticket machines out of service and don't provide anywhere to buy tickets at the stops, i'm gonna ride for free.

The Crash

Once the sun has faded, a previously dark, anonymous building lights up. Ceiling bright with the glare of crushed beer cans. Beer mats inscribed with drunken ramblings and wisdom are jammed between cans, failed attempts and those deemed unworthy litter the floor. The music is loud. It is hard. It is rock. It is roll. More bodies than seem possible fill the small, alcohol infused floor. Beers in hand, chatting, laughing, shouting, screaming, singing. Living. The party will go on until the sun rises and slowly the room empties as bodies stagger and sway their way to work. It's over. At least until the sun goes down again. The punks, the rockers, the goths. The misfits, the loners, the down and out. This is their place, their sanctuary, their home. This is The Crash.

The first 2 weeks.

The first morning - walking through the Hertfordshire countryside

Walk. Countryside. Hertford. Train. Lewisham. Lost in La Mancha. Hackney. City. Pubs. Free sandwiches. Train. Bath. Pretty. Hobgoblin. Train. Bus. Llanberis. Camp. Snowdon. Ice. Fog. Train. Ferry. Dublin. Jameson's distillery. Canal. Walk. Walk. Camp. Train. Galway. The Crane. Bus. Belfast. Giant's Causeway. Bushmills distillery.