Have you heard the new album from Architecture In Helsinki? It's fantastic. Will defiinitely have to get a copy when I get back to London. Anyway, the actual architecture in Helsinki is not bad either. A lot of baroque, as tends to be the case in Scandinavia, as well as many neo-classical buildings. In a nutshell, it's part Scandinavian, part Russian, but definitively Finnish ;-) The same thing can be applied to the culture here in general too - more liberal and westernised than Russia, but not quite in the same way as Denmark and Sweden. The constant clash of the "two cultures" though, for me anyway, makes Helsinki a fascinating place. The language is a bit funny too - lots of k's, p's, double k's, double p's, double i's and loooong words. Where Danish and ... read more

Denmark - famous for Hans Christian Andersen, as being the setting of Hamlet, and err....emo band, The Rasmus. Ok, we'll forgive them for that...maybe. We were not originally planning to go to Denmark, or indeed even Scandinavia at all - so our last minute decision to travel to the first of four new countries we have never been to before left myself and Davies with a strong sense of anticipation. We had heard so much about how expensive things are in Scandinavia - so back in Hamburg, we bought two six packs of beers and a bottle of vodka to take with us over the border in preparation, which cost us about 20 euros. It meant that my bag was heavy as though, as I struggled to lift it on to the luggage shelves inside the ... read more

WARNING: This blog entry contains nudity, sex scenes, drug use and other phallic material. Discretion, and for some of you lot, parental guidance, is advised. Seriously - this is my most controversial entry yet - I really hope no-one gets offended... Las Vegas may be known as Sin City, but this is a place just as deserving of the moniker. Famous for its liberal attitude towards prostitutes and weed, this was a hedonist's dream - and I was psyched. We were meeting up with our mate Michael Gardner aka Gkee, from our high school/university days. He was flying in from London on Saturday around 2pm, and then flying out around the same time on Sunday. So the challenge was set - to have the complete Amsterdam experience in 24 hours. Davies and I however, were to ... read more

After one day's rest from the madness of La Tomatina, it was time for more madness in Barcelona. Unfortunately, my bed was directly beneath the fan in our dorm, and because it was so hot, I decided to leave it on. The next morning, my throat was sore. A real melting pot of many cultures, Barcelona has an avantgarde, bohemian, freakshow vibe and the place is alive in every sense of the word. Nowhere is this reflected better than on the main street, La Rambla. Lined with street stalls, street performers and everything in between, this is the heart of Barcelona, and is always packed with people. Unfortunately, this is also what attracts Barcelona's notorious pickpockets. I had talked to a couple of people in Madrid who had had their wallets nicked, so as I ambled ... read more

Siestas y Fiestas en Espana, translates to "Mid-afternoon naps and partying in Spain", which is basically what I have been doing for the past six days. Siesta occurred in Seville, although it wasn't me taking the siestas but the locals, and fiestas most definitely occurred in Mad Maaaad! Madrid. But firstly let's recall Seville. Seville, aka Sevilla, aka "The Frying Pan Of Europe", is hot in every sense of the word. Whoever gave the city the frying pan moniker was almost accurate, but I would liken the dry, scorching heat more to an oven rather than a frying pan. But "The Oven Of Europe"doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it? With temperatures during the day hovering around 40 degrees, it was definitely the hottest place I've been to after Zagreb. Seville is also ... read more