Remainder of 2008 Euro Trip

Going to England with my hockey equipment in hand , hoping and praying to find a rink .....fly into London and Snowy comes to pick me up . Snowy is somehow related to me ???? Kathleen's ( my girlfriend) sister lives in Ringwood ( England ) and Snowy is Izzy's better half LOL!!! So yeah Snowy picks me up and totally dislikes driving into London but does me this huge favor and we are off to Ringwood . Now i know there is a rink somewhere but not too sure where , so i ask ....nah no clue mate .

Getting into Ringwood i basically drop my bags say my hellos and get whisked off to the PUB !!! Basically we did a mini pub crawl , it was a Sunday but the pubs are always bustling and packed with laughs . Got the chance in this one pub to play the meat draw , local butcher donates 5pound coupons for meat at his butcher shop....got to meet the butcher too ! Unfortunately for him, everyone saves their coupons to cash in on holidays hahahaha. That night Snowy took me to meet a couple of his old mates , Flimmy & JT . These guys were 2 of the most standout characters i have ever met and really showed me a good night .

Over my stay in Ringwood i was lucky to meet alot of amazing people and i go there as much as i possibly can ( i love the pubs) . But on this trip it was more of a touristy thing then a hockey thing . Nobody i met knew of ice hockey . And i don't think i am going to be playing much here .

So some of the touristy things i did while in the south of England were going to Bournemouth Pier ( went for Greek dinner mmmm!) also took a day to go to Stonehenge which totally appeased to the inner geek in me :) Stonehenge is something most people should see , really unbelievable place and if you do go then listen to the recordings they are quite interesting . That day Snowy, Isabelle and the kids ( Jack and Faegan ) also took me to Salisbury . Also visiting the New Forest to see a Canadian monument on my stay in Ringwood . I was REALLY lucky to be in England for Guy Fawkes Day , drank alot that night , blew up things and watched a movie in Snowy and Izzy's shed ( The Poxy Roxy ) ,it is set up as a theatre with a pull down screen and projector . B movies are the specialty here...

So i am not only in England to visit Ringwood and surrounding area . Rock The Bells took their Hip Hop tour to Birmingham and i bought a ticket as i have family there . The day before i was to head out to catch my train i find out that the concert has been cancelled ( to this day i have never gotten a reply from RTB about this ! , but i still go to their concerts ) . So instead of freaking out i calmly cancelled and got my full refund and then called the ASTON VILLA box office . Villa is my favorite football club in the whole wide world and as it works out they have a game that same day vs. Middlesborough , so i booked my ticket ...being a member has its privileges :)

Jumped on a train and started my 3.5 hour trek from Bournemouth to Birmingham to stay with my Aunt Carmen and Uncle Albert , they live in a small borough of Birmingham called Solihull . My aunt & uncle picked me up at the train station and took me off to their place . Cousins Paul & Steve always are willing to show me around the city when i got there , first stop is always to the local mall ...the bus station is there so we head to Villa park to get me some Villa gear . Went to the Aston House ( pub) for some drinks and hit a couple other friendly pubs , what a great time i had . Oh i forgot to mention that i left my bag in Ringwood as i booked a flight out of Birmingham to meet my girlfriend in Malta ....no hockey in Malta :(  

So on a rainy day i finally got to go to see my favorite club play on their home pitch ! ASTON VILLA . It was raining and i had an unbelievable seat in the 3rd row at centre field , unfortunately the wind was blowing and i got soaked but what better way to watch a Premier League game then in the rain ....gotta love it .

Next part of this trip takes me from Birmingham to Dublin ( spend a night there at Jen's place) and catch next flight at 6 AM to Malta where i will meet my favorite cousin in the whole wide world Adrian Bonett. This guy is a champ and is always ready and prepared to show me a good time . Apparently he has a room for Kathleen and i to stay at , not too sure what to expect .....

oh yeah and Villa lost to stupid Middlesborough ( who got relegated that year ) :(