Day 1 of Barcelona. Arriving at the amazing, cool and posh like hotel, I love it! 😀 We stayed in L’Eixample and our hotel was just off Passeig de Gràcia, which is home to luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Louis Vuitton etc. and lots of high end jewelers.
We had a city view, which was cool, and could look out on to the street. The hotel had a Triumph bike in it, if you like bikes that may mean something :p
On the first day we went to Sagrada Familia, aka the famous Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona. I have been here before, but when I was just a kid, it is a must have place to go if you’re going to Barcelona. We seen a couple of other buildings, cathedrals and churches too.
I was amazed by the streets, the roads are so big! That is why you’ll see many photos of streets and roads, which were incredibly big! :p
So I am now back from Barcelona, here are some of my pics. Newcastle airport was the first port of call, and then on the flight and on to Barcelona aiport, El Prat.
The flight was delayed because there was an unidentified bag in the hold so they had to check each one…Not the greatest thing to hear or a great start! :p But the flight time was just under 2 hours which was really quick.
The new champagne bar in Newcastle airport.
The now standard “shot of the wing” which everyone seems to do on Instagram when they fly It does look pretty cool up in the air tho.
Launched earlier this year was a new David Beckham fragrance, David Beckham Classic. It’s just the latest of his collection of fragrances, which has included The Essence, Instinct, Homme, Signature and Intimately Beckham.
It’s said to be a woody citrus type of scent, with an elegant feel.
So as you may know I got the rare Smirnoff Root Beer Float Vodka the other day, and it smells pretty nice! But how does it taste? What can you make with it? Well if you are a kid you will know that a float is usually means one thing…Ice cream!
I remember as a kid having ice-cream floaters which consisted of Coke or Lemonade with a scoop of ice cream.
This is the same thing, but an adult-alcohol version of a childhood favourite. I saw a recipe which included this vodka with Baileys, I have added Ice Cream into the mix too.
You Need:
Smirnoff Root Beer Float
Baileys
Coke
Ice Cream
Your Favourite Glass Tumbler
Pour a shot of Baileys into the glass, then a shot of Smirnoff. Pour the Coke over them both slowly, that will cause the Baileys to foam up so do it slowly. Then add a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. Serve with a straw.
The first time I made it I think I used a bit too much of the alcohol (I used almost 2 shots of each) so I would recommend using only 1 shot of each. If you don’t want the foamy top you can shake the cocktail up and get a more consistent texture. Remember when you are shaking up Coke it is already fizzy so be careful!
The taste? Really nice!
You can check out my other Smirnoff vodka bottles, which includes:
Yes, I got another flavour of Smirnoff, this time it’s Root Beer Float. It’s the forth of the hard to find flavours which I have, I previously got Fluffed Marshmallow, Kissed Caramel and Whipped Cream. This one sounded so nice I had to get it to try.
I have not tried it yet, but I can’t wait to. Root Beer is an American drink, I got a can of some once before, it tastes like Dandelion And Burdock if I remember correctly which I like so this could be great.
I have seen that many people mix this with Coke and Baileys, that sounds really good. I might do that, and maybe add in some vanilla ice cream too, to make it a proper float
So yesterday we were out in Durham and ended up back in Newcastle. We went to a few places in Durham like the Slug & Lettuce, Osbournes, The Boathouse and others, and went to a few bars in Newcastle. It was a good night, apart from trying to get a Taxi in the pouring rain when I was only wearing a t-shirt…Not good!!!
We also had to wait for the train back to Newcastle which was delayed by 45 minutes! 🙁
One of the bars in Durham had this sign on their jukebox…
Not my type of bar 😉
Inside the Slug and Lettuce…Why is it that people look up when I am taking a photo?!
When I go out in Newcastle I keep hearing people talk about Geordie Shore, or are asked by tourists and people who have come up to Newcastle where so-and-so bar is, or in general people talking about bars which are seen in Geordie Shore. Well here is a guide to Newcastle, and the bars featured in Geordie Shore.
Background
First of all if you are coming to Newcastle then you probably want to go to more bars than the ones featured in the show; You will probably be here for a whole night or two, and Newcastle has so many bars to choose from. Not only that, most bars are set in areas, the main ones being:
As you can see from the map, if you wanna do a Geordie Shore style bar crawl then you don’t have far to walk; All these bars are more or less on the same street, almost next door to each other. For the purpose of this I have included some other bars since some are similar, in the same area or just on because you should go to more bars! 😀
You’ll also notice it’s really close to the Central Station, so easy to get to 🙂
The Diamond Strip
It’s currently considered the cool and trendy place to go, and has bars such as Madame Koo, Floritas, House Of Smith, Perdu and Bijoux. Round a couple of corners you have Tup Tup Palace (nightclub) and Ohso. Geordie Shore were famously banned from Perdu and all the bars it’s associated with (The Fluid Group), but I have included it in this guide because it’s the same type of bar as the rest.
The Bar Crawl – Old skool style, no pre-drinking, this is Newcastle, go out for the whole night, not at 11PM!
Start Off – Union Rooms
Let’s make this easy, you can walk pretty much in a straight line for this bar crawl and have a great night. We’ll start at Union Rooms. The Union Rooms is a Wetherspoons chain and is usually a good place to start. It can be busy, but it’s a good place to get a couple of early drinks in, they are cheap, sell a big variety, and you can just chill a little bit before the real start of the night 😀 If you want to start with food, you can get it there, since they do meals. There is no music in this bar, it’s definitely a “meeting” or talking bar.
This is what Revolution looks like, on the corner, with the other bars just down the road
Inisde Revolution on the higher level, it’s pretty full!
Revolution – Cocktails, racks of shots, music, vodka
I love this place, the building is big and amazing, it was actually a former bank. Cool architecture, but let’s talk about the drinks. Revolution is typically a vodka bar, but it does sell beer and other drinks. They do racks of shots, where you can get 12 shots, as well as pitchers of cocktails for all your mates. It’s usually always packed, lots of girls, good music. Price is not the cheapest, but if you get a cocktail you WILL taste the alcohol in these. It’s almost always busy, sometimes it can take a while at the bar but this is a great place.
Walk past Madame Koo and you will find Floritas next door. Here you will be able to get more drinks, listen to the house music, dance, chill, talk, whatever floats your boat. Have a cocktail, get a beer, or if you wanna splash the cash get a bottle of your favourite spirit or champagne.
You can sort of see the queue for Perdu, this part of Newcastle gets busy at peak times
They banned the Geordie Shore cast from going here, but I have included Perdu because it’s a similar type of bar and in the same area. If you are going on a Saturday night at the end of the month expect to queue at peak times, and their door policy can be quite selective. The music is house, and the drinks are not the cheapest, it’s still a decent spot and can attract a good crowd. If you don’t wanna queue, head round the corner to….
Ohso
Just round the corner from Perdu is Ohso. Walk in and you have a choice to make; Go upstairs, for a slightly quieter experience where there is music, or to the larger downstairs. Be wary of the times you go, despite it being a bar and not a club they charge after a certain time to get in.
A favourite of the Geordie Shore lot which means it’s got a lot busier, Bijoux is down the street from Perdu/Floritas and across the road. It’s quite a small bar with a back area with seating, the main bar area has tables with a bit of a dancefloor, with a small VIP area. Book yourself a comfortable table which is basically on the dancefloor for an amazing night.
House of Smith, used to be Baby Lynch
Madame Koo, House Of Smith or Tup Tup Palace
It’s probably time to hit a club now, and the choice is yours. You can head back up the road to Madame Koo or House Of Smith, or check out Tup Tup Palace. Koos is a place for everyone, various music and a diverse crowd. Tup Tup and House Of Smith are the places to go if you are looking for a more upscale end to your night, with house music pumping at Kinky Disco in Tup Tup you can dance the night away. Both clubs embrace the “Dress to impress” statement, to fit in with the crowd you have got to be looking your best.
It’s probably 3AM now, so time to get something to eat and go home! 😉
Mimo, billed as a cocktail bar, just round the corner from Revolution
Other bars – Mimo Official Site
There are a few more bars I have added which are in the area. Mimo is just round the corner from Revolution. They offer a load of cocktails at a reasonable price, if you are looking for a drink or two early on it could be the place.
A late bar which can be good, The Empress is really jumping with loads of great music and a good crowd. The drinks are pretty good, it can take a while to get served depending on how busy it is, and there is usually some kind of offers on.
“A good night out is more about the people you are with, rather than the places you go. You can have an amazing night out anywhere with the right group of people.”
Have fun in my amazing city, Newcastle 😀 If you want to know more about all the best bars in the Toon, check out my Newcastle Bar Reviews which has the latest information and updates on Newcastle nightlife.
Credits Photography: Michael84.co.uk (iPhone/Sony HX5/Canon 600D) do not use this pictures without written permission.
If you are looking for a new scent to add to your male grooming repertoire, I have tried out a new fragrance from Italian fashion brand Trussardi. It’s called Uomo, and comes in a stylish black bottle trimmed in gold. It’s a real classy and elegant bottle, simple in it’s style with the gold top and writing.
Trussardi say ” Its notes are inspired by leather and Italianity: lemon, bergamot, galbanum, violet, geranium, salvia sclarea, musk, leather, and patchouli”.
What does that smell like? Well it’s a classic, manly smell, a hint of woody musk “man smell” as I call it, but not overpowering. It’s a one for the night, whether you’re out with the boys or with a lady, this works.
If you are looking for a classic men’s EDT and want something different from everyone else, this could be it.
I got the set which includes the shower gel and aftershave balm.
You have heard me talking about this for a little bit, but yes, I finally got my Sony SRS-BTX500, and could not be happier 😀
First of all the look; It looks fashionable, trendy, premium, high end, and it’s all of these. The brushed aluminium on the sides, the lovely front grill and glowing blue light on the front to the rubber feet on the base to ensure it doesn’t slip around, everything about it is really nice and well put together.
Sound
Well it sounds like you may expect, it’s great 😀 Obviously far better than the Beats Pill I had. It is loud, crisp, plenty of bass, and works well quiet or loud. I have tried this in my bedroom and living room, and the sound more than fills the room. Outside in the garden it’s plenty loud enough for a usual situation.
Connectivity
It does have NFC, but since I have no NFC devices I can’t talk about that. It has a USB port on the back which you can use to charge your phone, no need to hunt around for the adapter just plug your phone in here and it will charge.
The biggest draw is obviously the Bluetooth. I connected my iPhone effortlessly, and I love this idea of having my phone control all the music or volume without being anywhere near the speaker.
I wanted something to connect to my PC too. I have lots of music and videos on my computer so I wanted to play from there as well as having the choice of using my iPhone. So I bought a Bluetooth dongle for it to connect. In all honesty, I thought it would be a pain to set up, so much so that I bought a wired AUX in cable, just in case I could not get the Bluetooth setup.
Once again it was easy! Connect the Bluetooth dongle to my PC, install the software/drivers and then discover the BTX500; Start playing music through my PC and it comes out the speaker 😀
As mentioned above there is an AUX in port (3.5mm) so you can connect through that if you have something which does not have Bluetooth.
Portability & Battery Life
It actually seems smaller than when I first saw it online. It comes with a softcase to take it places, and it is not so hard to transport around. It’s probably too big and heavy if you want to take this abroad or if you plan on travelling around, but it’s perfectly capable of being taken to a friends house or party, or some other place.
Since I have just got it I have not had a chance to test the battery life, it’s only quoted at 6 hours which is not so good.
The downsides
If you want to hunt around for downsides to this speaker I can come up with a couple, but it’s being really picky.
No supplied 3.5mm cable – You don’t get much in the way of accessories; Only the speaker, power adapter and softcase as a matter of fact.
Power adapter is big and bulky – In the age of small plugs with USB connectors this has quite a big adapter/plug to go in the wall. It can be impractical if you are using a 2-way adapter socker for example.
Battery life not the best – Even though I have not had a chance to use the battery fully, the quoted 6 hours is not very long, there are other speakers such as the Bose which quote a much better battery life, in fact the little brother of this (The BTX300) quotes 8 hours.
Conclusion
The downsides are really quite small, and really don’t make much difference if any for me. This is a great speaker, it does everything I want it to do, sounds great and looks the part.
I got a sample of Salvatore Ferragamo Acqua Essenziale to try, and it smells pretty good. First of all I like the little sample bottle, it’s quite amazing how much detail and effort goes into some brands samples, and this is no different.
The smell itself is quite a fresh water, yet woody type of smell. It’s a grown up, refined masculine type of smell, definitely not fruity or any hint of citrus.
Just to show you the size difference in the bottles
Welcome to Michael 84 – A men’s fashion blog and lifestyle guide from the UK. You’ll find the best in fashion, style, male grooming, fragrances, travel, tech and modern living.
Read about the latest fashion for men. Everything from luxury designer menswear to affordable casual clothing to keep you on trend. You’ll always look stylish with effortless fashion tips and up to date information on the latest style trends.
Michael 84 is often named amongst the best mens fashion bloggers in the UK and the world.
Please let me know if you have featured me in your blog, magazine or publication and I will add your button. Check out my Press Page here
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Individual posts which contain affiliate links are marked as such with the relevant disclaimers.
