Are You Gonna Be Part of This Party!

Let me halfway introduce myself and say two things before you try to make sense of this website. My life has always been a little over the top. A childhood Lego obsession grew into an Ivy League masters in engineering; my desire to own a Nissan 350Z grew into the purchase of a Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet; and an effort to make a few extra $$ on the web sprouted into a business that supports the lifestyle I’ve been dreaming about. So it’s fitting that my itch for a new scene morphed from a Hermosa Beach-to-Santa Monica move, into a 6-month European adventure – in my Porsche. Join me to see where this adventure leads.
If you’d like to get a quick overview of the trip, check out the map at the bottom of every page or the Itinerary. There’s four hours of edited video on this site, so if your next couple of days aren’t open check out the Best Of.

Where am I now? Back home in Los Angeles

Bath & Stonehenge

Thursday morning I drove down to Bath and took an excellent tour of its namesake’s history. And I squeezed in a view of Stonehenge with no tourists before the sun set. I drove to Brighton to reconnect and eat dinner with a friend I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. He offered, and I accepted, a bed for the night too.


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Caernarfon, Beaumaris, and Harlech

After dropping off Anna at the Dublin airport I took the last ferry back to the UK. This in hindsite was a poor choice. I disembarked around 1:30am and by the time 2:30 rolled around I settled for some very (and I mean very) shady sleeping arrangements. I awoke alive however (what’s more amazing is that my car was still in one piece too), and Wednesday turned out to be amazing. I was drawn by the castles littering the Welsh countryside to do some unplanned sightseeing. That night I drove back to Stratford-upon-Avon and stayed again at the Mercure Shakespeare Hotel.

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Beaumaris
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Harlech
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The North Road

To end our tour of Ireland we headed down from Bushmills to Dublin along the North Road, through Cushendun, Cushendall, and Carnlough.

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Dunluce Castle, Giant’s Causeway, & Smuggler’s Inn

We walked around Dublin On Sunday, then at night drove up to Bushmills in North Antrim. On Monday, which started in a very rainy way but then turned gorgeous, we toured Dunluce Castle, Giant’s Causeway, and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

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As the sun was setting we found ourselves at the Smuggler’s Inn. Man, what an outstanding hotel – The Smuggler’s Inn is a great place to stay if you ever make it to Bushmills on the north coast of Ireland. I recommend the Dunluce room. While you’re there you of course have to do a taste test of Bushmills Whiskey, and wash it down with a glass of Guiness beer! For an excellent dinner check out Bushmill’s Inn.

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Cashel Castle, Kilkenny Beer, and Partiers in Dublin

On our way from Waterford to Dublin we stopped at Cashel first. Next we hit Kilkenny, had some Kilkenny beer, and saw the castle. Dublin was packed with partiers because Germany was facing off against Ireland for a World Cup qualifier. So for accomodations we had to settle for the Morrison Hotel, “probably the coolest and most luxurious city centre hotel in Dublin.”

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The Athenaeum Hotel in Waterford Ireland

Anna and I stayed in Waterford after the ferry ride. I didn’t think we’d have a tough time finding a place to stay, but, boy, was I wrong. After and hour or so of looking we stumbled across the most excellent deal, the Athenaeum House. And once again we had another amazingly tasty dinner.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Anna, who you may remember I met in Stockholm, flew out to London so that she could tour Ireland with me. Before we took the ferry across the Irish Sea we stayed the first night at the Mercure Shakespeare Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon.

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London

I was in London for a couple days, but by that time my trip was catching up with me so I kept it low key. I attended some cool parties at Scream and Sketch and saw a good friend at Manicomio. I stayed at the Tudor Court Hotel where the Indian proprietors adore Sathya Sai Baba – very odd.

Doughnuts Around L’Arc de Triomphe

I got caught up in some slow circles around the Arc de Triomphe before I took off for London.

And of course I couldn’t leave without the requisite Porsche/monument photo:

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