Madrid in a weekend....

OHHH Yeahhh!!! I made it to Madrid for a weekend to see my friend... "Silbia"!!!

We had a great time... Madrid is really a great place... we walked and saw amazing things... met crazy/interesting people.....

We did the tour.... I had a great time!!!

Life in the fast lane... but it all made sense because I was with a friend:)

Life is good:) Madrid is great!!!! It was nice to be able to party all night long, and still see people in the street after 2 in the morning:)

This photo was taken... just to show Silbia how taking photos directly in the sun do make interesting pictures... and that nothing is impossible... given any situation you can make the best of it!!!

Kamone

What can we do?

I found myself thinking today...how often do we think of others? How lucky are we? I mean we wake up and think about how difficult our life is... but is it really? think about it... if you are reading this you have a PC and access to Internet....How many children in Africa wake up every day wondering if they are going to get clean water....

So what can we do?! Well there are loads of things we can do... but the very least is donating every now and again.

That is why I am going have a Donation button on my blog... and anyone who is willing please just donate what you can spare...I will collect the money and donate it to a charity. I will post all my donations on my blog.
Is this a scheme??! Well those of you who know me, know that this is for real.... and that I would not cheat... so please take the time and make a donataion:) by clicking on the button in the top right hand corner "Make a Donation".

Ideias, Kamone, Gareth

PS - If you are wondering how safe it is to donate on my personal page... I simply used a PayPal account. By clicking on the button you will be redirected to a PayPal page, where your information is as secure as using it on e-bay for example. PayPal is responsible for the security....so you cant go wrong:) Please note that you DO NOT NEED a PayPal account to donate, any credit card will work:)

The Wickerman...

This weekend I managed to get out a bit.... and this is what I saw....

The burning Wickerman...

For those of you who are not familiar with this... check out the site:

http://www.archaeolink.co.uk/

Although this is a pagan celebration... and it is supposed to be virgin.... with modern day regulations... all could burn was as the pictures show....

It still was amazing.... I mean when was the last time you saw a 4 meter straw man being burnt?!!?!

IT WAS GREAT!!!! I really loved it....but again I have always liked fire....

London Rules!!!

Ya I finally made it to London....

And what can I say?! LONDON RULES!!!


I really loved it... the city has so much to offer....



There are so many things to see and do....

During my short stay there I managed to fit the following in:

- Westminster Abbey
- Bus tour around the city
- St. Paul's Cathedral
- Chinese Foot massage
- Covenant Garden
- Piccadilly Circus
- Leicester Square
- Oxford Street
- British Museum
- The Underground

WHAT CAN I SAY?!?!?! fantastic... got to go back....You cannot see all of London in only one weekend....

Population (2006 est.) - Greater London 7,512,400 - Density 12,331/sq mi (4,761/km²) - Urban 8,515,000 - Metro 12 to 14 million

St. Andrews...

Hi everyone,

Yes I have been quiet for the last week... but life does go on.

The poll on the beard... well one does learn from his mistakes... It is official I am never going to grow my beard again. I wanted to thank everyone who participated in the event. The statistics speak for them selves!!!


I also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a couple of my trips here in Scotland. A couple weeks ago I visited St. Andrews... were golf was born!!!

Beautiful place, full of charisma!!!!

I really enjoyed it...

If you are ever looking for a nice small place to visit in Scotland... I highly recommend this place... the pubs are nice, the people are very friendly... I guess I was lucky with the weather when I went... but it was so nice I am going to go back....FANTASTIC!!!!



Kamone

a) The "Arabian" - 4 and half week beard!

b) The "Hippie" - very 80's...

c) The "Italian"

d) The original

What can I say.... I now have a beard!!! eheheheh

Concentrating on making sure that I dont let go... someones life is my hands....:)

Reach for the sky... you can do it..... It is not as easy as it looks....

Kamone the climber:)

Back in Aberdeen:)

Hi everyone...

Life goes on here in Aberdeen....I have just started my wall climbing lessons...how hard can it be right?

Well the truth is it is FANTASTIC... although it is not easy to go up 14m!!!! Just need to practice:)

Beijinhos e abracos,

Kamone

San Francisco and Washington DC

After Vegas we where convinced that life could not get better... but it did... we drove 9 hours to San Francisco... and it was worth it!!!

The city is one of the nicest cities I have ever been to...

It is not your typical American city where everything is so spread out ... but everything is close and convenient.

There are loads of young people... maybe due to all of the universities in the area ...and the night life is amazing:)

(the bridge is the main thing in the photo - not Anne, Melinda or Chris)

We rented a Tandem ( 2 people bicycle) and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge!!! What a way to end the trip!!!!

We saw Alcatraz from a distance... and said we would be back....:)

Here is a view on where we went in 2 weeks:)

After San Francisco we drove to Santa Barbara.... where Duarte is at the moment and I continued to LA and caught a plane to Washington DC to see my family:)

Anyway here is the deal for just over 3000 dollars... :

Aberdeen
Paris
Washington DC
Miami
Key West
Miami Marlins
Kennedy Space Center
Orlando-Universal Studios
Miami
LA
LA Downtown
Hollywood
Santa Monica and Venice Beach
Rodeo Drive
Vegas
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
LA
Washington
Paris
Aberdeen

2 week journey
2 cars - 3500 miles
1 helicopter
2 bikes


13 nights in reasonable hotels
14 days of American food
swam in the Atlantic and the Pacific
LOADS of new friends

You guys tell me if it was worth it!!!!!!

HELL YAAA!!!! if anyone is thinking of doing it... JUST DO IT!!! It will change your horizon like has changed mine!!!!

Kamone, Ideias, Gareth over and out:)

Grand Canyon

AMAZING!!! It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen....
The pictures do not the place justice...

We saw the sun set... it was amazing... (it took us a little over 5 hours to drive there but it was worth it!)

There were hundreds of people there but all you could here was nature... it is so beautiful and breath taking that no one says anything!!!!
BRUTAL!!!

All I can say is that I am going back there one day...

Vegas

This was our small car... a Dodge!!! Not bad... eheheh
Anyway it got us from LA to Vegas... and if we thought we already had the time of our lives... well Vegas...changes things!!

Vegas is another world, it is like Euro Disney for Adults it is BRUTAL!!!!

I mean you all know how I like to gamble right... well there is much more to Vegas than gambling... I never really understood the expression:

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!"

Well once you are there you will figure it out:)

This is a neat image of the strip... I mean walking down that road is an experience itself...

The Casinos... the lights... the buildings... the shows... the people... the women... the limos... the clubs... everything!!! IS FANTASTIC!!!
As you walk into the casinos you realize that people are not loosing fortunes... they are having fun...and that is what gambling is about!! I mean we saw people loose a lot of money from our perspective but the truth is money is relative!!! some have a lot and some don't but I did not see anyone really cross with themselves for placing too much money on the tables.

One guy lost 6 grand in 10 minutes and all he said was: "Bad table"!

It was great... and yup I did gamble and yes I did make some money enough to pay for the hotel!!! OHH YEAHHH!!!

I went to Vegas and won!!! LOL

While we where in Vegas during the day we went to see the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (South Rim)... GREAT!!!!

LA

Ya we made it to LA!!! Some people say that there is not much in LA well... all I can say is they are wrong... I mean the city has 17.7 million people... it has Hollywood, Santa Monica, Rodeo Drive,... should I go on?!

We went to Downtown LA!!! and walked around for about 5 hours!!! it was great we really got a feeling for that part of the city... people very friendly, amazing buildings, like the famouse Musical Hall (where Mariza is going to perform in October), the City Hall... it was just great!!!

Here is a great photo of LA from the top of the City Hall... ohh yeah I was having the time of my life!!!

BRUTAL!!!!!

After going to Hollywood at night... which to say the least was interesting... (I only saw like 16 limos that night) anyway... those stories will have to be told in person....

Moving on we went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach... and it is great.... just like Baywatch... the women, the bikinis, the bikes, the people, everything!!! It was great! We used this neat transportation...

It was cool!!!

Anyway after that we went to Rodeo Drive... the fashion center of LA... not like Milan but very cool indeed...money is not an issue there... like if you have to ask for the price then it is not for you!!!!

After LA we hit the road again towards.... VEGAS!!!!!!!

Orlando

After Cape Canaveral we headed towards Orlando...to Universal Studios....

AMAZING!!!! We had the time of our life... meting all kinds of people Portuguese, Brazilians, Americans, English...
This is a photo of the best ride in my opinion: the HULK!!! I had never been on a roller coaster like this one... It was so good that we went on it twice in a row:)

We stayed there to see what the night life was about...

To be honest I really enjoyed the City Walk... we met Kathy and her friends...at this bar...it was great...like Duarte says...

"Um ambiente muito saudavel!!! eeheheheh"

After Orlando we headed back to Miami to hand the car in and catch a plane to LA!!!!