Sian, I love you, i'm sorry, please come back........

..........you've forgotten your house keys.

See what i did then, i used the common "Sad attention seeking social media idiots syndrome" method to draw you in

We are so so sorry that we've neglected our wonderful blog followers, what can i say, we're busy busy busy BUT i got a little bit of time to post a blog update...when i say a little bit of time even the shortest blog update takes me around 3 hours once i've uploaded pics, videos, sorted them out and edited my blabbering crap stream of  consciousness but here we go folks.

Now the bad weather has set in and we can't get out as much for walks and drinkies we decided to start decorating the house. The house didn't really need decorating as such as its your basic colours and the house is only 4 years old but it's always nice to freshen a house up and add your touches to it to make it a home. We had decided to to paint the ceiling of our living room white, then 3 walls magnolia then a feature wall in a colour called Toronto. To make the room a bit different we both decided to have canvases made up of the concerts we had been to with place and date printed on them so the walls were of great memories. We're not a self obsessed couple with lots of pics up of ourselves in matching pyjamas or laughing in the rain or jumping in the air on a beach, we're not a couple who want endless pics of our family members looking back at us night after night, we see them most days anyway, so we decided to have memories up on the walls and we do love a concert.

Our feature wall is our Foo Fighters wall along with a genuine band signed picture that i bought for Sian when our Foo's concert was cancelled after Taylors death, we still have canvases to add to this wall of our Cardiff Foo's concert.

Then we have a wall of other concerts we've been to and an original framed Melody Maker magazine with Dave Gahan on the front which Sian bought for me as a birthday present i think which is awesome.

And of course a picture of Freddie. This is Sian's favourite picture of him and i had the lyrics of her favourite song added to the picture.

 So that's our living room finished, Sian also painted the hallway so only 5 more rooms to go, maybe next winter we'll do another room lol. To be fair to Sian she is a great decorator, she didn't spill anything, she didn't splash anything and her clothes were as clean as when she put them on, me.....i looked like i hand been in a paint explosion, it was ridiculous.

As we all know it's been a mild winter and 4 weeks ago i saw a little figure slowly moving outside our house, so i went out to see what it was and when i got closer it was a tiny hedgehog. We have allot of cats where we live so i didn't want it to get hurt by them, i went and put gloves on, got Squidly's carry case and brought her in to our home.

Then i went out the garden and got fallen leaves from the trees in our garden and made a little home for him in a large storage container, he was so small. At this point in time to survive a winter a hedgehog should weigh at least 600 grams, this little fella was only 200 grams. Sian bought him home some cat food as they like that which he tucked in tovery loudly i must say and we settled him down to hopefully hibernate as we had made him a home to hibernate in in our garden. Sadly 2 days later Mr. Snuffleupagus had passed away, the day before he had been moving under his leaves but the next day he was not breathing, stoned cold and stiff and we hadn't even transferred him outside in to the cold at this point, we think he was just to little to survive, i felt very sad that he couldn't survive but we tried our best and did as it said on the internet when you find a hedgehog.

Autumn internationals and it's Wales V South Africa with great seats, shame about the result. Wales were bloody useless and worse than the result we decided to get seats in the alcohol free zone of the Principality Stadium when in reality we needed to be blind drunk to enjoy this pile of garbage but we enjoyed our drinkies after it in Porters Bar.

Obviously this picture was taken during the warm up as we look very happy.

Nice bit of AC/DC before the terrible game.

Ah well, never mind, we have London to look forward to, YES, it's our yearly London Christmas trip, HOORAH!

We arrived in to London at 12.30pm and got off at Earls Court instead of waiting in traffic on the coach all the way through to Victoria and straight away off the coach we were on our way to a show.

This year i wanted to make it a little bit special with a surprise for Sian. We were going up to see the Christmas lights and to go to a gig at the Roundhouse in London but before all that on the day we arrive i had bought tickets to a show that had just opened called "A Christmas Carol(ish)" starring Nick Mohamed from the comedies Ted Lasso, Intelligence, 8 out of 10 cats and his comedy character Mr. Swallow.

Its quite a new theatre called SohoPlace, think it's only been open 2 years and what a great theatre it is, all the seats and so close to the stage it feels like your almost on it. I bought the cheap seats that only cost £20 but were in a great location. Due to the show being a matinee show there were a few seats left empty in the stalls and our £20 seats were automatically upgraded to £99 seats, what a great start to our London trip.

Time for pre show drinks me thinks.

Our view from our upgraded seats, its a great theatre as only small and seats are all up close to the stage. The show was "A Christmas carol(ish)" it's a comedy take on Dickens Christmas, one of the funniest live shows we've seen and would definitely see it again and would definitely go to Sohoplace again.

It was quite a manic start to the weekend as it was off the coach and straight to the theatre so now it's time to head off to our apartment in Belsize Park, what a posh area, did not expect that. It was sort of like a suburban village with little shops, cafe bars and restaurants, didn't see a pub at all but the cafe bars sold alcohol if you wanted a drink, lets get those bags dropped off in apartment as we have a concert in an hour.

Our apartment was so cool and compact and had all you needed for a comfortable stay.

And off to the Roundhouse near Camden we go. As we got there the queue seemed to go on and on as we walked along it, in fact is was the longest queue we've ever been in but it did go down extremely quickly. As we got closer to the door there was a beggar asking for money, the person he was talking to was in the queue and French. The beggars first approach was "Any spare change mate", the gent opened his wallet and said "Sorry, only notes" the beggars reply was "A fiver?" to which the gent again told him "sorry , no fivers", a third attempt from the beggar was "A tenner?" and at this point the queue moved on. So now homeless instead of dropping down in amounts are trying to bid up, first any spare change, then a fiver going up to a tenner. This form of begging will never work, if it did we'd all give it go. 

In to the Roundhouse and what a great looking building it is. We were here for a tribute concert to Mark Lanegan. We didn't know any of his music but we new the artists paying tribute to him Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Josh Homme (Queens of the stone age), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) and Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) along with many others who knew him.

Quite close to stage as it's not that big a venue.

Dave and Josh, they have great voices, didn't know the songs.

Would i go to the Roundhouse again, i doubt it, the acoustics to me didn't seem that great which is a shame but it's a round venue so maybe that's the reason. The venue itself was great but the sound was one of the worst we've heard even though the artists were great. It was still good to see. Sian wasn't feeling well at all so an early night ready for tomorrow which was fine by me, prefer Sian to be fully fit tomorrow than stay out and miss all of the next day. Come on, lets get back and settle down.

Up and out nice and early for coffee as its a bright sunny day. Found a nice little square around the corner from our apartment and sat outside enjoying the sunshine, peace and quiet, which is rare for London.

As you know we've been to London so many times that there's not much more we can show you but we always go to St. James Park to feed the Squizzles and birds before we do anything else.

One thing you might not know is Sian is a huge James Bond fan and it just so happens there is a James Bond exhibition in a little shop in Burlington Arcade. We've been in this arcade a couple of times but today was very busy.

We find the shop and because it was so small i stayed outside and Sian could go in a have a look around at her leisure.

Sian said it was very interesting and of course she bought herself a little present from the exhibition and why not, it's Christmas after all.

Sian with her James Bond goodies. IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

                                                        

After walking nearly double our daily steps we were so thirsty and there's only one place to stop off to quench that thirst, THE MAPLE LEAF, YAY!

I decided to wear my Calgary Hitmen hockey hoody for the occasion, CHEERS! (Hate having my picture taken) I look drunk OR am i?

Around to Covent Garden to see the best tree in London and go to Punch & Judy. No room at the inn for a drink, it was rammed but the tree was impressive once again.

Our selfies are getting to serious 😆

Over to Carnaby Street as we wanted to pick up a few Christmas tree decorations from Liberty's and we have to say the Carnaby Street lights this year were rubbish, did not feel much like Christmas at all, BOOOOOOOOOO!

It's been a long day out and about, nearly 9 hours of walking and drinking and we're starving so it's KFC and a bed picnic, doesn't get better than that.

The next day it's up and out early again to go and see the new shopping centre in the old Battersea Power Station which they have built around some of the old machinery in the building and have to say its quite impressive.

Our view from the approach at the back of the station.

As you can see this was an internal transporter that has been left as part of the shopping hall.

Sian is definitely in the Christmas spirit now.

The main entrance to the shopping centre with the huge famous chimneys.

It was very cold around the power station and very open so the wind made it even colder.

It's Sunday and time to head home. We make our way to Belsize Park tube station. As we get on to the platform and walk to the furthest end of the station i see a figure i know......oh my god, it's Michael Palin.

There was just Myself, Sian and Michael waiting at the furthest end of the platform.

As you know if you've been reading this blog for years if i see or meet someone famous i hate to bother them with a selfie but i had to talk to Michael. I stood next to him, leant over and said "Can i just say a big thank you for Ripping Yarns" (Ripping Yarns was Michael Palins comedy TV show). He turned and replied "Oh my, that was many years ago", i added "It helped me through my childhood, i also had your Ripping Yarns book, so thank you very much" he finished by saying "Your very kind to say that" and that was that. Didn't ask for selfie or autograph, i just wanted him to know how much i appreciated him and his work. 

Another great 4 days in London and over to soon but we found a new pub to wait in before our coach home, The Albert Pub in Victoria, what a great find.

Why do our little trips away always go so quickly but when we're back in Cardiff amongst the idiots it drags so much , uuuuggghhhhhhh!

Well it's almost Christmas but it's lost it's shine with me as it's been Christmas since August, that was the first time i saw Christmas chocolates and biscuits in a supermarket. Also our neighbours seem to be very eager to put up Christmas decorations, the first house set theirs out end of October and lucky for us it's just around the corner so doesn't blind us through our windows.

THAT IS RIDICULOUS! The large Grinch on it's own costs £249 (I've checked) that's without all the other.....dare i say it.......SHIT! and then there's the electric to run all of it for 7 hours a night every night for 2 months. I thought our bills were meant to be sky high? STOP THIS NONSENSE!

So now i'd like to show you ours, Squidly's wooden Christmas lights.

Squidly's Christmas dinner.

Squidly's advent calendar.

And that's it. Only joking, we do have a lovely tree and just a few little Christmas ornaments but not allot at all, just enough to show it's Christmas.

On to another annual Christmas event, our trip to Monmouth the weekend before Christmas Day and yes, we both have Christmas jumpers this year but very cool ones.......

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

This Christmas i must have been a very good boy as i had lots of presents but i had the most thoughtful and best present i think i have ever had. Sian asked Santa to get me Dave Grohl limited edition drum sticks for me to use with my drum kit. When i opened them and read the description of them it actually brought a tear to my eye as there was so much thought gone in to getting them, it was amazing.

My amazing present.

The description.

And my drum kit, it's an electronic drum kit that i can play through headphones so i don't annoy the neighbours as i play them really badly, i mean terribly but it's good to "SMASH!" Sian will also be using them as she likes to drum too, i feel a drum battle coming on.

Christmas is over and yes it was a great Christmas and roll on new year and we had snow, we were warned by the in laws that we were going to have a blizzard so we better get shopping in, unfortunately the blizzard set in first.

Bags packed, check! Passports in date, check! Flights and hotel booked, check! Off to Munich we go for New Year!

We have been to Munich before in the summer of 2022 when we also went to Paris from Munich to see Depeche Mode but this time it was allot colder but we still had great weather bright sunny days every day.

I had booked a hotel out of the centre but within easy commute on the tram as it was direct from our hotel to the main centre Karlplatz. As we traveled to the hotel it got quieter and quieter which is what we like from an accommodation, we don't need to be in the centre if the transport is good and in Munich its excellent.

Impressed by the hotel from the outside, looks lovely.

 

And the room is lovely and comfy, not that we spend much time in it.

Although the corridors to the rooms are a bit odd and it was making my eyes go funny. All the room doors had famous German women on them but i didn't know any of them.

We arrived and it was getting dark so we wanted to just go out locally for a drink and some food and like a beacon of bright blinding light we found Axel F and yes that's the name of the bar.

We ordered 2 of the local Munich beers Augustiner and they were very good. Then the owner came round with free lemoncello shots, don't mind if we do! The shot glasses in the pic are now in a house in Cardiff, SSShhhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

The bar area and there was also a restaurant area and it played 80's music, it was the perfect start. A few beers and shots later it was time for a take away and chill out before our long New Years Eve.

Wake up, Wake up, it's a beautiful day and we're off to explore.

We decided to go and find the bar we were spending the evening in and just for a bit of walk around the area it is in. We had a few places in mind, Hard Rock Cafe but no entertainment, the Bierkeller but it was the other side of Munich city centre and difficult to get from early hours of the morning so we decided on an Irish bar.

Sian on the way to our tram outside our hotel, it was a wee bit chilly don't you know but the sun was shining and it was dry, that's fins bt us.

We found our bar The Shamrock just off the main shopping street. So we're all set. Let's get our steps in.

And here is Sian getting her steps in with the Munich giant, Sian realized they looked like the video for Genesis's "I can't Dance".

Me freezing my butt off in front of the Siegestor (Munich victory gate)

Sian all nice and cosy in her new winter jacket, i'm not jealous at all.

Off to Karlplatz to see the winter wonderland in all it's glory and of course to have a few drinkies.

Bugger, we forgot our ice skates. No way i'm putting my feet in a skate that someone elses sweaty foot has been in, no way at all.

Is that the winter wonderland? That's it? Well that's a bit rubbish.

A bit thirsty again so it's a trip to Hard Rock Cafe which was packed but we were lucky enough to get the last table, now that would have been a disaster. Cheers!

We've got our steps in and a few beers so it's time to head back for a few hours before heading back out for New Years.

We made our way by tram to the maih shopping street close to The Shamrock and blow me down with a feather we spot an old friend, Woolworths! i mean, C&A in Montreux, Woolworths in Munich, what do they know that we don't AND there was also a C&A in Munich.

We make our way downstairs to the bar and it was such a cool place and great music, lots of rock. There was a karaoke set up which was already in use and it was only 9pm. As the night went on the bar become packed but we had reserved our table so we were set for the night. The karaoke got louder, the atmosphere got more fun, the bar was almost at capacity and the drinks were flowing, it was so good.

Sian looked beautiful and loved her outfit but then again she always looks good.

Where as i looked like i had grabbed the only clothes i had ironed but hey, it's all about the good times.

DOWN IT, DOWN IT, DOWN IT. It's not Strongbow it's Augustiner but that's the largest glass they had to save us going up to the bar so often as it was rammed in there.

OOoohh, that's the way to drink it without it spilling all down your chops and over yourself.

Just as the night was in full swing and everyone was killing songs on the karaoke, which in fact is the best karaoke, who wants to hear excellent well practiced singers, the website for the karaoke the bar was using called "Karafun" crashed and they couldn't get it working again, this was due to the amount of people using it for New Years in homes, bars and clubs. That killed the night off, with 30 mins to go before midnight the bar started to empty as people went to find other bars. Such a shame as it was going so well and everyone was in such a good mood, ah well, not long till we're all outside anyway to see in 2025.

Five mins until midnight and we make our way out of the bar and to the main road to watch the fireworks.

IT'S ABSOLUTE MADNESS! ONE OF THE BEST NEW YEARS!

As you can see from those 2 videos (There are allot more as it went on for ages) it's not so much a firework display, it's a bring your own explosives party. People were bringing store bought and homemade fireworks in to town, putting them in the middle of the main high street, lit them and whatever happens happens. It was the craziest thing we've ever seen, fireworks just going everywhere and anywhere, we stood back a bit off the road with others in front of us so we couldn't get hit by a stray firework. There are no organized firework displays so its DIY wherever you are in Germany and this is why there were deaths on New Years Eve all from firework incidents, there were also 300 arrested in Berlin due to fireworks. Would we do it again....HELL YEAH!

We risk our lives crossing the road to get to our tram stop and make our way back towards our hotel and stop off in the great Axel F for a night cap until 2.30am.

New Years day and i'm up and out early to get some fresh pastries for breakfast before we head off in to the centre of Munich for a walk and a quieter look around as it was very busy yesterday.

And guess what we found as we made our way in to Munich central.......Freddie Mercury Street.

There are so many chocolate shops in the centre of Munich and look at this huge chocolate display, i would love to munch in to that. It was at least  foot tall.

Now then, this is an odd one. We walked around some of the back streets of Munich and came across a statue. This statue must have been of someone very important in German history but instead of it being about the man of the statue it had been converted to a shrine for the man in the mirror, Michael Jackson, very odd indeed.

I did google why the shrine was there and it seems to be that the hotel opposite the statue was where he stayed in Munich also Freddie Mercury stayed there, not at the same time though.

It's a little chilly so lets get some spiced mulled wine and i have to say it was quite nice and warmed use us for our walk back.

It's all caught up with us so we decide to stay in the hotel instead of going to Axel F as the temp outside is dropping quite low.

The hotel bar which was warm, cosy and comfy.

Our last full day so it's sight seeing time as we've done allot of eating and drinking so far and it's a good way to get our steps in.

This was a huge church just around the corner from our hotel.

This church is in the very centre of Munich, name escapes be but it's very impressive.

I'm not sure why there is a tribute to Kelsey Grammar (Frazier, Cheers) in here.

Getting "Stranger Things" vibe is this church.

This is in the very centre Munich, Marienplatz.

Within this historical building is a square and it that square is a restaurant called "Ratskeller", come on lets go!

And what food we did stuff our faces with. 

I had Veal Rouladen, a cabbage leaf wrapped around veal, pastrami and beef mmmmmmmmm! the gravy was so meaty and the mash was smooth, buttery and creamy. So good.

Sian had Jagerschnitzel, pork loins with mushrooms and spaetzle pasta, think Sian made a good choice.

To top it all off we ordered a Munich side salad.

Do we have room for desserts? Yeah, go on then.

Sian had apple strudel with 3 different creams and i had Creme Brulee, both desserts were amazing.

Stuffed and happy we decide to waddle back and collapse in the room, i think we deserve to collapse as we've had 4 full on days, walked nearly 70,000 steps, partied till late, lots of drinkies and food, yeah we deserve it.

As we lay there just watching crap Tv we start to feel a bit sleepy so it's time to open the room window.

AAAAGGGGHHHHHH! IT'S SNOWING!

Morning Munich, THE SNOW HAS STAYED, AGGGGHHHHHHH, YAY!

Ah well all great things come to end and this trip is coming to it's end, BOOOOooooooo!

By snowy Munich, we shall be back as this trip was better than the first.

So another New Year away, another visit to Munich and it was great, really enjoyed it and we had a great time. Why is the UK so shit in every way?

HAPPY 2025!

And what is in store for us this year?

Well first of all we went to see Ricky Gervais in January at the Utilita in Cardiff. We both like The Office and Extras, we've watched all his stand ups but never been able to get tickets for him but Sian for my Birthday managed to get 2 for us, now that's a great birthday present.

We start off in Porters Bar at 5pm, one of our favourites in Cardiff city centre as it's hidden away but does get very busy after 8pm so it's nice to sit and chill first.

The view from our seats before Ricky comes on stage.

Our selfies are never serious or good but this one is so badly taken.

A very short stand up show, only 1 hour but we laughed our backsides off, he is a very funny guy.

And we have a new local, Y Mochyn Du (The Black Pig) or as it's now call Brewhouse & Kitchen, BLOODY ENGLISH!

They sell lots of German beers including our favs Weihenstephan and Augustiener so it's perfect, a bit more expensive than our other locals but it's a great bar with great music and an indoor fire pit!!!!

YAY, Weihenstephan!

We like beer, we like to drink our beer, we like tasters, this is a perfect sharer.

YAY, Augustiener!

Few beers later and a bit peckish so what do we have to eat, I KNOW, lets go to the Greek Village by our house, WOOHOO!

Two Gyros, Saganaki and extra fries. Why the extra fries? What an idiot.

And that's the update, sorry we left it so long but we'll try to not leave it as long next time.

So what's coming up in 2025, well, March a local stay in the Wye Valley, April is Birmingham and War of the Worlds musical, June we have Athens & Hydra, July Paris for Imagine Dragons at Stade de France, August is Coldplay in London, September is Dublin and New Year is back to our train station in Llangollen.

I think i told you that March next year we're back in Calgary, Canada but this reminded me of a conversation that i had with a Calgarian last year when we were out there.

I was talking to him about we'd like to visit Banff at some point and he replied "You should take a trip to the lake mini wanker". I thought "Well there's no need for that, how rude and my height shouldn't be brought in to this" i smiled and said "Thanks" then walked away. 

I had judged the man wrongly, he wasn't attacking me at all, it's an actual place.

And finally, it's Squidly's turn to get in on the blog act.

She now has a play tunnel, not much playing just sleeping.

                                                         

She has found a new roll space to crash out on.

Awwww mummy's girl, she does like to be close to Sian, i'm not jealous.

Squidly has a whole room floor to lay down on and she decides to lay in between her stacking cups.

This is the landing in the house, she keeps guard looking out over the stairs then pounces when you get to the top. She's like Cato from the Pink Panther films.

And here is Squidly helping me put the TV/Hifi unit together, she didn't really help but don't tell her that.

And that's your lot. I've been thinking of changing my blog to a vlog or adding a vlog for my thoughts of the month but this would be in the disguise of Kylo Ren as i hate my own stupid face but we'll see about a vlog as it could just be minutes and minutes of me ranting with the odd wise word dropped in for good measure, i think i may get cancelled before i've even started.

So until the next update......

Serve All, Love All, Peace All...... Kevlar, Mrs.P & Squidly Out!