The San Fran man

The trip has finally started and the first port of call was San Francisco, yet to get there we faced nearly 30 hours of travelling door to door. Yet I've always loved long haul flights, abusing the free drinks and watching the latest films. However, I was in for a shock since American Airlines don't even provide you with your own televison (first world problems) fortunately my ability to sleep in most conditions made the journey fly by and soon enough I found myself in downtown San Fran.

The first thing to notice was the gradient of the city, I thought Sheffield was hell but I had been introduced to a new form of torture like nothing before. Luckily the hostel was only a few blocks away and we quickly collapsed to adjust our body clocks.

After struggling to sleep due to having a snorlax for a room mate we headed out to begin our journey as tourists, Golden Gate Bridge was first on our list and after a trek through the park we were met by San Fran's most iconic monument. A brief walk round found us exploring Fort Point which was everything that Fort Boyad was, minus the prizes and tigers. Although we had purchased travel passes we found ourselves walking everywhere and it was soon clear that we were getting a bigger workout than we had ever anticipated, the hills were so steep that to stand up right would send you tumbling down the hill.

Like all the other adventures, we look for pub crawls both to get hammered and also to indulge ourselves in the local culture. Yet on our first night out we found ourselves in the beer Olympics representing our glorious nation. After suffering a humiliating defeat in all four rounds, we somehow found ourselves in the semi finals due to special circumstances and adding Tom from York to our team, we powered towards victory to bring home England's greatest piece of silverware for decades.

San Fran has a lot to offer and the second day was no different, pier 39 at fishermans wharf was full of life, offering old amusement arcardes and a great view of Alcatraz since we hadn't booked tickets in advance ( word of warning, look to book at least a month in advance!). Instead we wandered up to Lombard street which is the most crooked street in the world and a few blocks down we stumbled across the set of the next planet of the apes film!!! Franco wasn't knocking about but it was pretty cool to see a post ape apocalyptic street.

The next stop for me was Chinatown since the other two were still recovering from the nights entertainment of duke dumont. I'd never really known the true meaning of Chinatown until I came to San Fran, it literally is a town within the city, nothing like berry street at home. Dim sum was the hangover cure and we wandered over to Coit Tower to see the awesome views right across the city, although it was on top of a 'hill' which resembled something close to Everest.

Our last attraction to visit was a tour of the AT&T park, home to the San Francisco giants and trying to learn a bit about baseball before we go watch a game in San Diego. We've managed to cram everything into our short stay and after pounding the streets were all looking forward to a big old chill in Santa Barbara.

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Ho Boy

So here it is, the return to Sevilla the city that gave birth to all the adventures that I've been on. Where the holy trinity of Victor Truong, Gary Chan and myself began our quest to conquer Europe. It was really wierd to walk round the city and eat at the same Maccies I did three years ago and think of all the places I'd visited since then.

But, there was no time for reminiscing as we were in Sevilla for a purpose and that was to see our great friend Phil Crawley whom you may recall from the first two Eurotrips. He's smashed a year out here as part of his degree and it was finally time to bring him home. But before that, he had to show us what he'd learnt by playing tour guide and translator, even though we all speak a little bit of spanish which at best is sufficient to survive. 

Plaza de España

The 6 hour coach journey from Portimao was hardly glamorous and the sleeping quarters were even less so as 7 of us cramped into the living room to enjoy the wonderful air conditioning and so we didn't die of dehydration during our sleep. But this did not discourage us one bit, we ventured out to taste the wonderful tapas of the region and soon found ourselves on Spanish time as we didn't eat til midnight, how my stomach survived this I'll never know.

As in Alvor, we partied every night in Sevilla to see Phil out with a bang. No party is complete without the presence of Chris Loftus who joined us for a few days and helped reconstruct part of the old Eurotrip gang, minus Victor and Gary. Due to the Spanish times we didn't start out until 1 and so every night we stumbled in at 6 or 7 for the duration of our stay. Hangovers were felt slightly more considering there was no pool to cure it but the holiday vibes still played our part and we managed to visit some of the sights.

Unfortunately, Catedral de Sevilla was closed since we didn't venture out until siesta time but we wandered round to the Royal Alcazar of Sevilla and into the city. We experienced our first botellon, which is essentially drinking on the streets by the historic Torre del Oro, the nightlife in Sevilla has definitely got it right with outdoor clubs and standard measures which must certainly be close to triples. Plaza de Espana is a landmark of the 1929 World Expo that took place in the park it is situated and after a night out a little row around the river was perfect to cure a few headaches, see the vlog here:

Our last full day was spent in the Real Betis shop since the typical spanish work ethic led us to believe there was a tour of the stadium, which to our dismay wasn't the case. Not to worry, we all came out kitted like the true football professionals that we look like. Phil's last night was celebrated with a pub crawl which is extremely fitting since we had all become so accustomed to that ritual. However, despite a great night and building many new friendships, disaster loomed.... Having to make our 5pm flight we had to catch a 10am train to Malaga... we woke at midday having all switched our alarms off and after a manic 30 minutes of packing, spewing and just shitting ourselves, we rang taxis and bailed straight in for a 2.5 ride to the airport. But this wasn't the end, pit stops were made for more spewing and my taxi nearly died with every red light on the dashboard flashed incessantly. 

Thankfully, we made it to the airport and made it on time just about and squeezed in a cheeky Pizza Hut. It was a crazy few hours to make the flight and it made it so much more ridiculous since Phil was using an emergency passport which had to be used that day. Despite our foolishness, we made it home and that's what counts. It's been a great week away with my best pals and I'd probably do it all over again, just about. Time to rest and recover my liver until the USA comes calling in a fortnight.

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The POWER of Portugal

So here we are in the midst of the second leg of the World Trip, three days and three nights spent in a heavenly resort located in Alvor. It's been a different type of adventure compared to the past three years, there was nothing much to explore apart from the local high street and supermarket. Yet the days were not wasted one bit, spent burning by the pool, getting the BBQ going and then going out in the evenings to meet anyone and everyone.

Album coming soon

This was all courtesy of Jack England's family who we shall always be heavily indebted to and forever hoping for an invite back... It was like being in an episode of MTV cribs and I could definitely get used to that life. We explored the customary Irish bar with a bit of karaoke and ventured out to Praia da Rocha just South in Portimão. As always, scousers make friends and we soon found company for the nights out, much to the delight of the group and after a hard and long night of drinking there is nothing better than jumping into the pool after getting back.

Heartbreakers of Alvor

There's nothing much to report apart from the major chilling we've done and the excessive cooking on the BBQ all thanks to the skills of Mike Wilson. We've also realised through experience that hangovers are significantly reduced when you have the pool and sun to just base off. As much as we want to just stay here and never leave, there is one thing or more accurately one person worth leaving for.

That is Phil Boy Crawley who has been lucky enough to live in Sevilla for the past year and is paroviding the hospitality for the four days. It may not be the 5 star standards that we've been used to, but the company of one of the original travellers is more than sufficient compensation.

It's going to be slightly surreal returning to the place where the first adventure started, if only the holy trinity could have been here, I'll be thinking of you Victor & Gary.

Keep watching.x