Action In Relaxation

Global Domination Comrades,


Apologies…I have been blog-slacking in the midst of busyness, business, and bees-knees-ness.  The summer season with Rustic Pathways is worthy of a blog in and of itself, which would land somewhere between Unicef, Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations, Invisible Children, and Gossip Girl.  Life is grand and I do love my job.  I’ve also stayed quite busy on a few life projects and recently acquired a loft in Riverfront Park, Denver to have as a vacation rental and “permanent home”, and am getting Elick.com up and running.  Excuses, excuses – I know.  Justified or not – it’s been great work/fun.


Brussels, the topic at hand, was a complete surprise – in the best way possible.  It’s a sleepier version of Paris , a unique blend of modern culture and historical context ^TM.  (Lonely Planet better not steal that trademarked line) I thoroughly enjoyed my first airbnb.com accomodation, street footy with the homies, mussels in Brussels, photo ops, and the Royal Museum for Central Africa – where the British School of Brussels so kindly hosted me at a fundraiser for their Best of Both Ghana Campaign.  This unlikely international spot on the Euro tour has to be coined with none other than the usual travel and box office quotable “A Must See!”  (I’ve gotten a bit rusty at this and am borderline traveler guide corny – meh, oh well)  Mo and mo betta posts to come soon…


The proof is in the photo pudding, and the song could have been nothing else.


Enjoy!

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Global fam,


I honestly don’t want to be writing this post because I’d rather be surfing in Bali – no offense.  So here we go, the up and clean.


The trek from Nice to London was a bit brutal (20 hour drive); luckily I had Anago and Chio as copilots until we parted ways in Paris.  After sleeping 3 hours in the now “well seasoned” (with roadtrip snacks) Citroen I was pleasantly greeted in sunny London town (London fog is a a well-executed hoax to keep tourists away…) to the Manchester City @ Chelsea game.  This greeting was epitomized by my pregame ballyhoo at a local “Chelsea ticket holder’s only” pub near Stamford Bridge, where I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, comradery, and crushing of Fuller’s London Pride pints with some proper English hooligans.  This banter and wit eventually led to dealmaking which then landed me an incredible season pass seat via one of the lads, Martin (row 12 on the 18 yard box).  The game, deemed the most expensive in history (due to the price-tag of each player on the pitch, and the uber-weath of each club’s respective owner) was nothing short of an epic battle, and I was buzzing about it for days.  This experience was worthy of two cliché’s combined = “A childhood bucket list realized and crossed off the dream”.  There’s so much I can say here but I’ll let Facebook, Twitter, and most general conversations that turn to the brilliance of the EPL do the talking.  The rest of my limited free time in London was spent on a jaunt around Greenwich = GMT = 0°0’0.00” Latitude, and some good fun with my London-based Rustic Pathways counterpart Shar.


England Round two was a month later than Round one due to scheduling “delays” and in hindsight, I can’t be more thankful for these timing and process difficulties.  Round two was also bucket dreamable when I took a Saturday to visit the largest Land Rover – Defender 90/110/130 sales and tuning shop in England – the Tyler car – as I like to call them.  The movie Big had nothing on this day.  I spent much of my free time having early morning convos with Pete (I crashed at his new flat in the Shoreditch district) and hanging with Edward and his girlfriend Nicola.  We had the opportunity to enjoy a few nights at the Berkeley in Knightsbridge where our connection to this incredible (and free) lodging gave us the simple recommendation to “milk it.” That we did (all maturity and inhibitions aside).  The exclamation point of the trip was the Liverpool @ Arsenal game where I was able to see my two favorite teams face off and finally decide and confirm my sole EPL allegiance to The Arsenal Gunners.  What a match!


The ocean is calling and you really don’t want to read any more of this half thought witless post.  Enjoy the pics…and enjoy today!


Round 1 – London (Chelsea, Kensington, Greenwich, Shoreditch, New Cross, Brixton)

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Round 2 – Cambridge & London (Shoreditch, Knightsbridge, Highbury)

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