Barry in Berlin!

Hello everyone, Barry here. Hope you are all well. I have just been on a trip to Berlin with Liv. It was an absolutely fascinating place, full of history and culture, but not only that, it's full of parties and great nightlife.
The place itself is very spread out, so we walked for miles and took trams and tube trains everywhere. My favourite place was the area of Kreuzburg, very chilled out and a little hippyish (very much like Camden in London), and also Alexanderplatz is very good for shopping as it is home to one of the biggest shopping malls in Germany. It was here in Alexanderplatz that we went to a rock club called Rockcafe where we saw a great Hungarian Guns n' Roses tribute band. Absolutely great! It was like seeing them in their prime. GO AXL!! Unfortunately Liv lost her camera with all our fab pictures of the Brandenburg Gates and part of The Berlin Wall (which has now been turned into an outdoor art gallery), so I can't show you our actual pics, but here are a few of the things that we visited anyway.

 (art on the wall)


(Brandenburg Gate)

We had the best time and I would recommend it to everyone. I think when we go again it will be a lot easier to find our way around and then we can concentrate on having a good time without being lost.
Anyway guys, would be great to hear your comments.
Peace out!

Baz

Barry's Twin? :O

Hello everyone, Tom here again.

Hope you're all enjoying recent Barry's post about his trip to the Olympic Stadium (Click here if not). He is already planning his next trip, he really does love all this blogging and meeting new people. Me and Barry are also very thankful for the suggestions about trips he could go on, he is fitting them into his busy schedule, what with him being a very in demand elephant now.

I've recently discovered that Barry has a long lost twin sibling, who is currently travelling the world, such as South America and the far east and is also sharing their tales with the world. If you were interested in seeing their travel pictures you could do so by clicking here. Needless to say we all prefer our Barry here in London but it's always nice to see what other people are up to.

Tom

Going for Gold!

** The Stadium **

Good afternoon everyone!! Hope you are all well.

A lot of the fun trips around London I've been on since I've lived here and especially since I've started sharing them all with you all on this blog have mainly featured the most well known and traditional London landmarks and tourist spots.

Now, although all of these have been fun and visiting things such as the Tower of London has been great for expanding my knowledge of this fantastic city I was very excited about the trip I took the other day to the ** Olympic Stadium** in Stratford, East London.

It was great to see something so big, new and currently in the process of being built. I am very excited about the Olympics, I would love to attend, maybe if I get my fitness levels up I may even be able to compete? Imagine it, Barry the Elephant, the first ever gold winning Elephant. Unfortunately I think the people competing have long been decided and are well into their training :(. Maybe in 2016.

Whilst visiting the building of the stadium I was also able to soak up a bit of international culture in the form of also seeing the building of the Anish Kapoor structure to commemorate the 2012 Olympics. Click here to see it in better details, as unfortunately it is only in the early stages of construction so I didn't get to see it in all its glory on this particularly trip. It's going to be bigger than the Statue of Liberty though, now that it big!

If you get a chance to go see the Olympic Stadium being built I would highly recommend it, it doesn't cost anything and it's right by the canal, Hackney Marches and Victoria Park. It's so peaceful and relaxing there. I was lucky enough that when I went it was a sunny day, I temporarily forgot I was in London and felt as if I had been transported back to Spain.

Pointing out the start of Anish Kapoor's structure. Not much but I believe I am of the first of many to visit this. Certainly the first elephant anyway.

A map of what the Olympic area will look like. It's going to be huge! Lots of different areas for very different sports and events.

Viewing the stadium from the nearby canal. A highly recommended (by me) viewing spot. I'll be back in the summer along with Tom and Liv for a picnic for sure.

Get Involved!

Hello everyone, It's Tom here.

I believe this is the first time we've actually personally spoke, usually it is Barry taking control of the keyboard to fill you in on what's been happening. Unfortunately Barry is busy at the minute (check back tomorrow to see what his next London trip has entailed) so I thought I'd take this oppertunity to quiz you all.

Me, Olivia and ofcourse **BARRY** are loving all the fun London site seeing adventures that we've encounted so far. However, we want some inspiration for all you readers and for you all to get involved. What in your opinion are the best kept secrets of tourist London? The places where a mini Spanish elephant and his two willing friends absolutely must go for the best possible day out? Get in touch and the ones with the best suggestions may check back on this blog and see that Barry has been to visit your suggested place.

The more unique the better, I look forward to hearing your suggestions...

Tom.

Tower of London



Hello again everyone, Barry here. Sorry for not reporting back to you all that much lately, I guess it’s just not been such a busy week.

Despite the slow start to the week I have taken a rather exciting trip to one of London’s oldest and most famous attractions, the tower of London. It was such a great place to visit and for anyone like me who isn’t originally from London it’s so exciting to be a to be able to visit all these amazing places.

I've enclosed a few photos from my trip for you all to see.  Hope you all like them and I’d highly recommend going to see the tower and getting a guided tour from one of the resident Beefeaters, I learnt so much and I'm so looking forward to going back.



Taking a moment to relax by the entrance.

At Traitors Gate :|. Lucky for me I was only walking past and wasn't entering by boat.

A great view of the Thames and Tower Bridge.




Love to you all, Barry.

Elephant Info

Hey guys, it's Liv here.

Just been having a search of the web and came accross the National Geographic website which has some beautiful pictures and some interesting information about elephants (very stylish, I'm sure Barry will be impressed!).

Aparently both males (bull elephant) and females (cow elephant) have tusks that they use to strip trees of their bark and to dig with, but ivory is in high demand even though selling modern ivory is illegal in the UK. This has left the African elephant an endagered species. If you come accross what you believe to be Illegal ivory, please don't buy it and aid the killing spree, it will be a sad day when elephants become extinct.

Sorry to get so serious, back to some beautifulness, did you know that elephants can live for up to 70 years and can weigh up to 6,350kg?

This is a most interesting wesite and think you should check it out. Here is the link.
Liv

Riverside

Hello Everyone, hope you all had a good weekend. 

What with the weather slowly beginning to pick up and the evenings pulling out slightly I decided along to take a nice long walk along the river taking it some of the best riverside sights. I've enclosed a few pictures of my walk and the many places and things I saw for you all to have a look at.

My walk let me see some of the best possible sights of London. I got to see how some of the most historic buildings such as St. Paul's Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral along with modern buildings such as Tate Modern and my personal favourite the Shard building at London Bridge, hopefully one day I'll be able to go right to the top :). 

Adiós, Barry

Stood outside Tate Modern looking across to St Paul's Cathedral with the Millennium Bridge in the background. The bridge is far too wonky for me to even think about stepping foot on it. 

A nice shot of the river with a glimpse of the City in the background.

Tate Modern. Unfortunately I didn't go in but perhaps another day.  I'd love to see the Tate's display of Pisasso and Dali, what with them being my favourite Spanish artists. 

Outside Shakespeare's refurbished Globe Theatre.

Stood outside The Clink Museum :|. Very scaring indeed.

About to set off on my pilgrimage to Canterbury from Southwark Cathedral.

"It'a so tall". Shard Building at London Bridge. Soon to be the tallest building in Europe. 

Barry & Castle

Good morning everyone, a new day and a new post.

Today I bring you news of my trip into the heart of South London. Usually me, Tom and Liv are much more likely to be spotting in the west end or visiting the sights along the south bank but today I wanted to try somewhere new so I decided along with Tom to visit Elephant & Castle.

Elephant & Castle might not seem like the most common place to visit whilst in London but it does have slightly more to offer than you may at first think. My personal favourite part of the trip was visiting the market satiated just off the busy roundabout (the roundabout I was not a fan of, the underground footpath was a bit tricky aswell, trying to figure the way out). As you can I’ve uploaded a photo of me by one of the many fruit and veg stoles on the market, I got myself some great fruit, will make a great fruit salad.

   

Having the flare for fashion that I possess I was very disappointed not to find any fashion gems hidden away on the market stoles or in the shopping center. Think I’ll have to stick to Portobello Road when it comes to clothes shopping at markets.

Another land mark I was interested in was the newly built Strata building. Coming from the same country that has produced some of the world’s greatest artists and architects, I really wasn’t a fan of the building, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I was however very impressed by the Elephant and Castle statue, situated just outside the shopping center. Unfortunately I don’t think London has all that many statues of elephants so I am very pleased to see at least they have this one. When compared to the statue elephant it just shows up even more what a tinie tiny elephant I really am.

Being an elephant living in London, somewhere with a name like Elephant & Castle can’t help but probe interest.  However I was very disappointed to learn the name has nothing to do with previous elephants residing or visiting the area. However I suppose this does make me the first elephant in the castle. Although I think I am likely to be the last, I think it’s safe to say me, Tom and Liv all prefer it north of the river and probably won’t be hurrying back in a while.

Bye for now, Barry.

Meet Tom

Barry here again!

As you've no doubt read I’ve had a rather incredible week. What with all the thrills and excitement of my first week as an international blogging superstar and spending the week in the company of my dearest friend Liv seeing the sights upon the London Eye, hitting it hard in Soho and going for a bit of dead celeb spotting in Highgate.

This week though I'm going to be staying at Tom’s house. Tom has been on his travels for the last week or two and I haven’t seen him at all since I’ve been Barry the international blogging superstar so we've got a lot to catch up on. I just hope he is ready for the busy and wild week I’ve got planned for us both. Be sure to check back in the next couple of days to see how the poor fellow is holding up.

All my Love, Barry. 

An Updated Bio

Hello Everyone

Phew, what a week it’s been! I've been so busy filling you all in on my antics of the last week, there hasn’t really been any time for you to get to know a bit more about me. I mean if you’re going to be following my day to day happenings I think it’s only fair you get a better idea of who I am.

As you heard in my very first blog, I am originally from Spain but moved to London after I decided being an Ice Cream holder wasn’t the life for me. As you can imagine being an Ice Cream holder didn’t rack in the Euros so the only way I was to make the journey to London was hoping a tourist would take pity on me and let me come back with them in their luggage. Luckily in 2010 my prayers were answered in the form of my nearest and dearest friend, who you’ve already met, Liv. We’ve been best friend ever since I arrived in London in her luggage. Since I’ve been in London I’ve been lucky to meet so many wonderful people, including Tom who I’m also going to be writing this blog with and who you will all meet very soon.

The reason I so desperately wanted to come to London was to try and fulfil my biggest passion in life. Ever since I was a baby elephant I've always dreamt of making it big in the fashion industry and I think swinging London is truly where an elephant can make the biggest mark on the fashion world. 

When it comes to my musical preferences, I'm a bit of a rock n roll lover. The Rolling Stones are my personal favourite. Far superior to The Beatles in every way and Mick Jagger is a bit of a idol for me. I'm like to think I have the swagger of Jagger. I love all rock music of the 60's and 70's, Jimi Hendirx. The Doors, The Who, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac but to name just a few. 

Aside from my passion for fashion and a bit of rock n roll, I love the excitement and sights of London, as judging by my posts you’ve no doubt already noticed this and if not I’m sure it’ll become clear very quickly.

Over the next few weeks, along with my two best friends Tom and Liv I’ll be giving you a glimpse into how I live my life and what a fashion minded, Spanish elephant likes to do with himself about town in London.

Adiós, Barry. 

Nellie The Elephant (Toy Dolls)

One of my all time favourite songs, I think you should all check it out. They're just not enough songs about elephants in my opinion. All my love to Nellie :). Keep checking back for some more adventures all coming up very shortly

Barry goes to Highgate!

Malcolm McLaren and Barry



Karl Marx



Jeremy Beadle

Hello everybody, It's Barry here again. Wow! what a weekend that was, finally over my heavy night so decided to blog again myself. My most recent expadition was to Highgate Cemetry in north London with Liv. After my rock and roll night in Soho watching the Ramones tribute band S.E.D.A.T.E.D. it was quite fitting that we should go and visit the deceased Malcolm McLaren, the manager to The Sex Pistols, amongst other's such as the communist philosopher Karl Marx and the television presenter Jeremy Beadle. It is a huge place and would have taken hours to see everyone, but it was rainy so it was decided that we would go and have a hot chocolate (coming from Spain i'm not exactly used to this cold and wet weather!).  Highgate itself and cemetry is a most interesting place, steeped in history and full of character. Well worth a visit if you haven't been before. Entry to the cemetry is £3.00, and if you want a map it'll cost you a further £1.00.

My friend Tom has just come back from his home in Cornwall (I missed him very much), so in the next few posts we'll be hearing from him and our adventures together. We have some fun and silly times planned ahead.

Keep the comments and page views flowing, I like to hear from you.

Barry

Soho!

On the bus to Soho!

Glug Glug Glug...



All dressed up an' the sun sets low...



Just a few photos of the wild night out Barry had in central london. We went to see a Ramones tribute band in a small, dingy rock club called St Moritz, not quite CBGB's but as close as we'll get in London. Barry met the band and got a souvenir to keep in his belly (a used plectrum from the guitarist). After a few too many alcoholic beverages Barry felt a little tired so I took him home to sleep it off.

In bed, not too happy!

At least he took his make-up off first.

Liv

Barry at The London Eye

Hi, I'm Liv, Barry's owner. This is Barry and I on our travels around London. I took him to The London Eye in Waterloo as his first sightseeing destination. He enjoyed it very much. The London eye took 7 years to build in total, but was well worth the wait. It took us half an hour to go round and we saw everything from St Paul's Cathedral to The Houses of Parliament and much more. I do believe Barry is the first elephant ever to be allowed on The London Eye. Everyone made him feel very welcome. He said he would recommend it to anyone.

Unfortunately Barry couldn't blog for himself today as he is a little worse for wear. After our trip to the big wheel, we went to see a band in Soho (his first night out!) and he got a little carried away with himself. Photos and information will soon be on it's way about his fun night out, but first a cup of tea and a good English fry up is in order, a traditional morning-after-the-night-before remedy.

Comment and follow for some fun times.
If anyone has any ideas for our next trip out in London, let me know and we'll get involved.

Liv

Introducing Barry

Hi, I'm Barry the Elephant. I come from Spain originally, and was once a container of a vanilla flavoured ice cream. I was brought to London by my owner Liv, and now we go on journeys together with her friend Tom (both will also possibly be posting on the blog). I'm going to start my sightseeing off in London and sharing my adentures with you, and hopefully one day, i'd like to travel the world. Help me find friends and maybe even other Barry's by following my travels and commenting on my posts please.