Havent had a chance to write a blog entry for ages, now I have a bit of time here now in Berlin to sit down and write down about the last crazy week or so.
Left Barcelona with a little bit of a bad taste in our mouths. Not once had we had any experience with pickpockets or anything of that matter. We arrived at the train station to take a train to Barcelona El Prat airport. We spotted a guy who was clearly a bit suss, eyeing off peoples bags, thought nothing more of it other than stay away from him and his mate. Got on the train, I sat down and Ella and Hamish were standing up (you snooze you loose). He was standing behind them, obviously realising they wernt easy targets as we were pretty cluey. Ella and Hamish got off the train first and as I was getting to the door about a metre away from me he pushed a group of asians out the door and centered on one which he put a knife to her throat trying to steal her bag, then threw her to the ground pointing the knife in her face. Then a heap of people got her away and they closed the doors of the train locking him inside. Just shows how desperate these people are, and I guess she would have been an easy target, small asian girl with probably a lot of money and a valuable passport. Kind of shit but its the reality of it all. I should have helped since I was one of a few people pretty close to it happening, but in reality what could I have done, got myself stabbed. Dont particually fancy being killed in Spain. Seconds later security guards and others were helping anyway. Shook us all up. Even so, Spain was awesome and I will definately go back! You cant judge a city on one Wanker prepared to ruin it for everyone, otherwise the Spaniards seemed to love tourists!
We got on the plane to Italy, it was on time which was nice =D
Arrived in Rome, found out there was no train from Fiumcino to Rome that day so we caught a shuttle bus. Arrived at our hostel, it was NOTHING like it was portrayed online and the owner was LESS than helpful. It shitted us off and added to a bad day. Went and saw the Colleseum which was great to see. The next day we went to book train tickets to Paris finding out because of French air and rail strikes we only had one choice, take a night train. We were all sick of Italy and Rome already, everyone looked suss and the citizens were sick of tourists. It just sucked to be honest. And Rome aint all that flash. So we booked the night train, leaving a day earlier than planned. That day we went and saw the trevi fountain and the vatican, the trevi was awesome. By the time we got to the railway station we were ready to get the hell out of Rome. Definately dont suggest it. But I guess on every trip there is always somewhere someone or something you wont enjoy. I just wanted to get to Paris. The train was disgusting, it was good to meet two Americans who were siblings, infact they were siblings with 8 other brothes and sisters, and home schooled. Interesting pair, was good to chat.
Arrived in Paris late, but that didnt matter, we couldnt check into the hotel until 3pm anyway. We decided since money was good we would treat ourselves in Paris, Hotel and Taxis. Trust me, that was living for us. We got into our room, showered and de-smelt ourselves!!!! Went to an internet cafe and got our facebook and email fix. Got ourselves ready and headed to the Eiffel tower where we took pics then went and had tea at this awesome cafe, tipped the waiter heaps because he was a good bloke. Actually found the Parisiens to be accomodating!!!!!!! Then we went and climbed the tower to the top, well, the lift. The stairs were closed at night, would have actually been keen to climb it. Was loving Paris at this point, last time I really didnt enjoy myself, it was dirty and the people were unfriendly. This time, it was (I hope your sitting down) CLEAN, the metro was dirty and shoddy, the streets were not full of cigarette butts and the people were very helpul. I really enjoyed myself, it was great fun! Next day we packed jam full. Started at the Palace of Versailles, which is epic to say the least. I learnt about it in year 12 history, and it was amazing how much I remembered about it, Mrs McCall, BE PROUD!!!! I really enjoyed it. Except I wasnt to impressed with the japanese conceptual art exhibition going on inside the palace, it took away from the history, unimpressed!!!!!! Then we headed back and booked our tickets to Amsterdam, no direct train seats left!!! We had to go through Lille and Antwerp!!!!!! Oh well. We then went and saw the Arc De Triomphe, which is awesome at night just like the Eiffel tower, bought some souveniers then headed to the hard rock cafe for tea!!!!!!!!! Bought myself a tshirt as I have done in every other hard rock cafe. Went back to the hotel and went into a deep sleep pretty damm quick. Woke up the next morning early. Train was at 12 and we still wanted to see the Louvre and the Basteille. Hamish was sick so he stayed but, me and Ella went to the Louvre but didnt have time for the basteille. We rushed back to the Hotel checked out grabbed our bags and raced to the train station. We quite literally JUST caught the train to lille by a small miracle! Thankyou speedy Parisien taxi driver. Hamish tried to bribe him to go fast, shame the bloke didnt speak english to understand!!!! Got into Lille, waited a bit for our train to Antwerp. Got to Antwerp and ran to our train to Amsterdam. Half way to Amsterdam the train stopped at a random station, we were told due to railway works there was no driver, we had to change trains. The train we had to take was in the opposite direction to Amsterdam, Hertstogenboosch or something like that, then to Utrecht, then somewhere else. We had to change trains 3 times to get to Amsterdam. Note to self, Dutch railways are unorganised!!! Oh well, we finally got to Amsterdam!!!!!!!!!!
Good to be in Amsterdam, it was familiar!!! Since I had been there with Mara not long before. I knew how to get to the hotel which was cool. The Hotel was an old dutch house, it was simple, not all that clean and not all that nice but fun. Note to self, when going to Amsterdam on a weekend make sure you book WELL in advance. Amsterdam didnt end up being as cheap as once planned. We went out to tea, had a couple of beers, smelt the woft of weed smoke which was not all that fun. Even the hotel smelt of it. We went to sleep as Ham and Ella were feeling rather ill. Woke up late the next day, had Manneken Pis, Hollands no. 1 fries!!!!! Damm they were good. Infact we ate them for tea. Went to the Anne Frank House and the Hard Rock Cafe and the Sex Museum which was rather weird. Amsterdam is just weird. Small town capital city drug loving weird weird place. Never seen so many rastifarians. We went to sleep rather early after discovering MTV and Jersery Shore, Ella was rather ill. Ham and Ella both got bad colds, probably got them from the Americans on the train from Italy. Woke up the next day, checked out and made our way to Amsterdam Centraal station to get a train to Berlin. Was excited to go back to Germany, almost like going home!!!!!! Second home anyway, it was all familiar again and it was nice to be able to speak and understand the language. Took a regional train to Hilversum then Hilversum to Berlin. Got in to Berlin lateish, so we jumped in a cab went to the hostel offloaded and went out for tea. Had a dandy dinner at the Sony Centre in Potsdammer Platz, came back and went to bed!
Yesterday we did a tour of Berlin where we saw the essential sights like Checkpoint Charlie, had an awesome tour guide named Finn who made the tour a lot of fun! That night we met up with someone Ella's cousin knew for tea and a few drinks. Went to a few cool bars and had some nice indian food =D Boosted back to the hostel around 1 and slept pretty damm well after a couple of beers. Today, we did a tour to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp which is something that is not really enjoyable but you have to do. It just makes you open your eyes to what happened and places like that hopefully make sure it never happens again. Now, I am sitting here at the hostel, about to go to the hard rock cafe, loving Berlin but even happier to go back to Dusseldorf tomorrow, it is like going home. I made it home for a month and a half and spent so much time with Mara its weird not to be in Duss with the German. Auf Wiedersehen!!!!!! Talk when I am in Dusseldorf next!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Barcelona
Greetings from possibly one of the most awesome places on the planet!!!!
We started our time in Barcelona on a bit of a downer but its progressively become a hell of a lot better!!!!
First day we decided to head off to the Picasso Museum! The line was epic, went forever and there were tourists everywhere, you can always pick the Americans, pants up to there chin massive camera draped from their neck speaking as loud as a jet plane so everyone in southern Spain and possible the south of France can hear them!!!!!!!!!! Although the line was rather large, it seemed to move along at a rather pleasing rapid pace which made this happy little vegemite even more happier. Picasso Museum was cheap as ´crisps´ only 6 Euros, if anyone asks, I am a student!!!!!!!!!! We tried to enter the collection with our bags but obviously we looked like we were there to steal some Picasso masterpieces so we were ushered to the bag room to drops our bags off. Then, alas, we were aloud to finally have a squiz at some original Pablo Ruiz Picasso! Walked into the first room and was a tad confused. When I studied Picasso in school we focussed on the cubism side of things, the first room was all his early work which was NOWHERE NEAR cubism, infact quite the opposite. In my opinion it got progressively better, he had a ´blue´ period which facinated me (a period where he used a lot of blue, obviously...) One portrait which was from the blue period facinated me. I want that one, but unfortunately, I cant have it. Anyway enough about Picasso. We had lunch at a very Spanish restaurant, Hamish and I had Paella. OM NOM NOM NOM! Ella was being a Lesbian and had Caeser Salad. Wrong country love.
Day two/three... I dunno, we headed into an area called Fontana which is a mega funky I am a poor and deprived art or language student area. Checked out all the shops, us poor kids window shopped and other afformentioned people spend many many euros on gifts and personal ´needs´. Which reminds me, I need soap, ran out today. Then we headed up to an area called Parc Guell, which is a huge park built on the side of a hill, designed by Gaudi. The buildings were epic, definately one of a kind and very, what I imagine to be, Spanish. If I remember rightly, it was originally going to be an Estate for some rather wealthy Barcelonian, but then he went broke, it was acquired by the government and made into the epic awesome park it is today. After that we headed off to the Hard Rock Cafe and I spent crazy amounts of money on a jumper. Had lunch at the markets, hugely cheap. The language barrier was interesting but we made it.
Then we come to today, which has been just a bit slower. Talked to Ma and Pa on the phone which was nice. Then we went and had a look up this mountain called Montjuic which was amazing, words cannot describe the view and pictures do not NEARLY do it justice. Gives you an idea of how big and sprawling Barcelona actually is!!!
Now we are back here writing blogs!
Adios Amigos from Barcelona!
We started our time in Barcelona on a bit of a downer but its progressively become a hell of a lot better!!!!
First day we decided to head off to the Picasso Museum! The line was epic, went forever and there were tourists everywhere, you can always pick the Americans, pants up to there chin massive camera draped from their neck speaking as loud as a jet plane so everyone in southern Spain and possible the south of France can hear them!!!!!!!!!! Although the line was rather large, it seemed to move along at a rather pleasing rapid pace which made this happy little vegemite even more happier. Picasso Museum was cheap as ´crisps´ only 6 Euros, if anyone asks, I am a student!!!!!!!!!! We tried to enter the collection with our bags but obviously we looked like we were there to steal some Picasso masterpieces so we were ushered to the bag room to drops our bags off. Then, alas, we were aloud to finally have a squiz at some original Pablo Ruiz Picasso! Walked into the first room and was a tad confused. When I studied Picasso in school we focussed on the cubism side of things, the first room was all his early work which was NOWHERE NEAR cubism, infact quite the opposite. In my opinion it got progressively better, he had a ´blue´ period which facinated me (a period where he used a lot of blue, obviously...) One portrait which was from the blue period facinated me. I want that one, but unfortunately, I cant have it. Anyway enough about Picasso. We had lunch at a very Spanish restaurant, Hamish and I had Paella. OM NOM NOM NOM! Ella was being a Lesbian and had Caeser Salad. Wrong country love.
Day two/three... I dunno, we headed into an area called Fontana which is a mega funky I am a poor and deprived art or language student area. Checked out all the shops, us poor kids window shopped and other afformentioned people spend many many euros on gifts and personal ´needs´. Which reminds me, I need soap, ran out today. Then we headed up to an area called Parc Guell, which is a huge park built on the side of a hill, designed by Gaudi. The buildings were epic, definately one of a kind and very, what I imagine to be, Spanish. If I remember rightly, it was originally going to be an Estate for some rather wealthy Barcelonian, but then he went broke, it was acquired by the government and made into the epic awesome park it is today. After that we headed off to the Hard Rock Cafe and I spent crazy amounts of money on a jumper. Had lunch at the markets, hugely cheap. The language barrier was interesting but we made it.
Then we come to today, which has been just a bit slower. Talked to Ma and Pa on the phone which was nice. Then we went and had a look up this mountain called Montjuic which was amazing, words cannot describe the view and pictures do not NEARLY do it justice. Gives you an idea of how big and sprawling Barcelona actually is!!!
Now we are back here writing blogs!
Adios Amigos from Barcelona!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Last day in Manchester, Ibiza and Barcelona, ESPANA!!!!!
Ola!!!!!!!!!
Writing this blog post from our hostel in Barcelona, Spain. AND WHAT a couple of days it has been! We had our last day in Manchester, where we slept in and then headed out to Oldham where Kieran used to live, just to check it out and take a photo!!!! We got there, took a couple of pictures then bailed, the new owner was looking out the window!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhahahaha!!!!!!! Went and had a look at Old Trafford with its Manchester United get up all over it!!!!!!!! took a couple of pictures!!!!!! Went to some epic shopping centre and had a squiz!!!! Ella and Ham got credit, interesting stuff =p Thanking Simon for being our Taxi!
That night we feasted on epic amounts of roast and crackling and I was a happy little vegemite!!!!!!!!!!
4am wake up call anyone???????????????????? IBIZA HERE WE COME!!!! Thanking Margaret for her hospitality and the 4am bacon and cheese sandwich!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Off to the airport we went, got ourselves checked in and were on the plane not long after.
The flight to Ibiza was just under 3 hours from Manchester, slept most of it with my mouth open, classy stuff. But nothing betters hams effort, asleep as we landed!!!!!!!!!!! Before we knew it we had arrived in Spain and were going through Customs, filled out some forms and were in the taxi headed for Lux Mar Apartmentatos!!!!!!!!!
Arrived at the Hostel and was told we had to wait 3 hours before we could get our room. Meh, we put our bags in the baggage room and set off for a walk. Went down the beach, decided to go into Ibiza town centre got half way there then ham realised he left his cam at the beach!!! We legged it down to the beach, thankgod it was still there!!!!!!! Then we took a walk along the foreshore and before we knew it was over 3 hours and our room was ready. We got our bags, and went up to our room. Room was nice, EPIC view. The only issue was, the bathroom smelt of urine... keeping that door closed.
We went down and had lunch at the foreshore, pretty cheaply, before heading off to Amnesia. Amnesia is aparently the ´world club´. We went so Ham could see Armin Van Burren. Was pretty awesome night considering how bloody exhausted we were!!!!
Slept until 12 the next day!!! Spent the next day booking barcelona hostels and flights. Then it was off to the beach. Had a good relaxing couple of hours at the beach then we headed back to the hostel to get ourselves showered and went back to the foreshore to have a nice cheap dinner again!!!!!!!! Before retireing back to the room to sleep, another early wake up call for another early flight.
Welcome to the day we will forever prefer to forget =D
Woke up at 6:30am, got ourselves packed and was out of the hostel in a flash off to the airport. We checked in, got ourselves to the gate and had a half hour of so before boarding. We waited, and waited, past the time the plane was meant to leave. Delayed, delayed, delayed. Then they took delayed to a new level. first it was an hour, then two, then three. Five hours later I was about ready to stab the nearest person, we left at the same time the NEXT Vueling flight to Barcelona left!!!!!!! Finally arrived in Barcelona 5 hours after we were meant to arrive. We got on the train to the main station before catching a metro to where we had to be. But, alas, we are geniuses, and didnt have an address for the hostel. Fail. We got hugely lost, no one knew it!!!!! After a while, I rang Mara and got her to look the address up online! We piled into a taxi and got dropped off 10 euros later! Alas, the taxi driver didnt drop us off at the correct location!!!!!!!!!! We went into an internet cafe and asked for directions and before we knew it we arrived at the hostel. AT 6PM!!! But, WE ARRIVED. We got ourselves sorted out in our dorm and went to go get dinner. We bought pizza, there was no oven and the microwave doesnt work!!!!!!!! Fail. Ended up eating it cold I was that starving!!!!
Ella and Ham were feeling a bit lost and homesick, cant say I had enjoyed the day but we were all looking forward to the next couple of days in Barcelona!!!!
Met our room mates, a couple of Spaniards and a Brit. Not a whole lot of conversation there!!!!!
Now I am writing this post before we head off to the Picasso Museum!!!!!
Adios Amigos!!!!!!
Writing this blog post from our hostel in Barcelona, Spain. AND WHAT a couple of days it has been! We had our last day in Manchester, where we slept in and then headed out to Oldham where Kieran used to live, just to check it out and take a photo!!!! We got there, took a couple of pictures then bailed, the new owner was looking out the window!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhahahaha!!!!!!! Went and had a look at Old Trafford with its Manchester United get up all over it!!!!!!!! took a couple of pictures!!!!!! Went to some epic shopping centre and had a squiz!!!! Ella and Ham got credit, interesting stuff =p Thanking Simon for being our Taxi!
That night we feasted on epic amounts of roast and crackling and I was a happy little vegemite!!!!!!!!!!
4am wake up call anyone???????????????????? IBIZA HERE WE COME!!!! Thanking Margaret for her hospitality and the 4am bacon and cheese sandwich!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Off to the airport we went, got ourselves checked in and were on the plane not long after.
The flight to Ibiza was just under 3 hours from Manchester, slept most of it with my mouth open, classy stuff. But nothing betters hams effort, asleep as we landed!!!!!!!!!!! Before we knew it we had arrived in Spain and were going through Customs, filled out some forms and were in the taxi headed for Lux Mar Apartmentatos!!!!!!!!!
Arrived at the Hostel and was told we had to wait 3 hours before we could get our room. Meh, we put our bags in the baggage room and set off for a walk. Went down the beach, decided to go into Ibiza town centre got half way there then ham realised he left his cam at the beach!!! We legged it down to the beach, thankgod it was still there!!!!!!! Then we took a walk along the foreshore and before we knew it was over 3 hours and our room was ready. We got our bags, and went up to our room. Room was nice, EPIC view. The only issue was, the bathroom smelt of urine... keeping that door closed.
We went down and had lunch at the foreshore, pretty cheaply, before heading off to Amnesia. Amnesia is aparently the ´world club´. We went so Ham could see Armin Van Burren. Was pretty awesome night considering how bloody exhausted we were!!!!
Slept until 12 the next day!!! Spent the next day booking barcelona hostels and flights. Then it was off to the beach. Had a good relaxing couple of hours at the beach then we headed back to the hostel to get ourselves showered and went back to the foreshore to have a nice cheap dinner again!!!!!!!! Before retireing back to the room to sleep, another early wake up call for another early flight.
Welcome to the day we will forever prefer to forget =D
Woke up at 6:30am, got ourselves packed and was out of the hostel in a flash off to the airport. We checked in, got ourselves to the gate and had a half hour of so before boarding. We waited, and waited, past the time the plane was meant to leave. Delayed, delayed, delayed. Then they took delayed to a new level. first it was an hour, then two, then three. Five hours later I was about ready to stab the nearest person, we left at the same time the NEXT Vueling flight to Barcelona left!!!!!!! Finally arrived in Barcelona 5 hours after we were meant to arrive. We got on the train to the main station before catching a metro to where we had to be. But, alas, we are geniuses, and didnt have an address for the hostel. Fail. We got hugely lost, no one knew it!!!!! After a while, I rang Mara and got her to look the address up online! We piled into a taxi and got dropped off 10 euros later! Alas, the taxi driver didnt drop us off at the correct location!!!!!!!!!! We went into an internet cafe and asked for directions and before we knew it we arrived at the hostel. AT 6PM!!! But, WE ARRIVED. We got ourselves sorted out in our dorm and went to go get dinner. We bought pizza, there was no oven and the microwave doesnt work!!!!!!!! Fail. Ended up eating it cold I was that starving!!!!
Ella and Ham were feeling a bit lost and homesick, cant say I had enjoyed the day but we were all looking forward to the next couple of days in Barcelona!!!!
Met our room mates, a couple of Spaniards and a Brit. Not a whole lot of conversation there!!!!!
Now I am writing this post before we head off to the Picasso Museum!!!!!
Adios Amigos!!!!!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
London, Chelmsford, Manchester, THE UNITED KINGDOM...
Hello my dear readers!
Been an absolute epic week or so since I was able to write a blog post, but, as I said in the beginning, these posts could come at very varying intervals!!!
So where have I been these past couple of weeks you ask, ALL OVER THE BLOODY UK!!!!!!
Our journey begins in the hussle and bussle of the United Kingdom's capital, where her Majesty the Queen resides, Tesco's!!!!!!!!!!!
bahahaha, I mean London.
What an amazing place, a city jamm packed with anything and everything, a city where playing 'spot the Brit' is more popular than anywhere else in England. A place where I could seriously see myself living, where I could live WITHOUT a car... Unless there is tube strikes, then London is the belly of the beast.
Day one (it will not suprise me if I get this all mixed up)... pretty sure we went to Wimbledon???? YES! We went to Wimbledon. We went to Wimbledon, the day that 'transport for London' decided it would be a intelligent idea to close the district line between Pultney Bridge and Wimbledon. We got to Pultney Bridge and went for a brief 'we are not lost!!' stroll before we got on a bus set for Wimbledon. We ended up going too far and having to walk up and down the only hill in the entire United Kingdom. But we got there, where it was late of not is another question!!!!!!! Never been a big tennis fan but the tour was fascinating!!!! Wimbledon is definately a very unique place and or event!!! Had a lazy night, downed a couple of Beck's with the Redhead and ate no where near as good as my fried rice spaghetti bolognese =D
Day two we buggered off to a place by the Name of Madame Tussauds. Sweet as!!!!!! Got many photos with many stars, INCLUDING BOLLYWOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After that we had a squiz at London Brigde and Tower of London and then we began our Jack the Ripper tour. Now THAT, was facinating!!!!! Turned out the killer was 99% more than likely a Polish Nut Job called Aaron.
Day number three, the tube drivers and maintinance men decided it would be an intelligent idea to go on strike. London on a Tube strike is my definition of hell. The overground from Ealing Broadway to Paddington wasn't all that bad, its just the bus ride from Paddington to Hyde Park that made me want to kill small children... they packed SO many people onto those busses, it was not fun AT all. That day we visited Buckingham Palace, or as Hamish likes to call it, Buckinghuge Palace!!!!! Was good to have a look around and get an insight into the Queen. Just makes me want Australia to become a republic even more now, though! We then took a brief stroll to have a look at not-so-big Big Ben. After that we went to the Downing Street and then furthermore onto the Hard Rock Cafe. Bought a T-Shirt, but we sure as hell didnt eat there!! Mortgage anyone????
Twas our last day in London, shead a tear. I became quite fond of that city!!!!!!!!! Had typical british fish and chips for tear, salt and vinegar!!!!! nom nom nom nom nom, went down a treat.
Next day, we got ourselves packed and headed back to central London to have a ride on the London Eye. Money well spent, it was awesome, gave an awesome insight into London and I got my barings!!!! Big Ben actually looked bigger from up there as opposed to ground level. Then, we said goodbye to Rob, Ealing and London, set for Chelmsford (Writtle) where Ella's great Aunt lives!!!!!!! Barbara picked us up from the train station and we lazed around home that day!!! We were rather tired!!!! Dinner was brilliant!
Next day we headed into Cambridge with Barbara and Joanne. Barbara is Ella's Great Aunt and Joanne is Barbara's daughter, have no idea what she is to Ella!!!!!!!! gets all a bit confusing. Had a good day there having a look around the colleges and went on a punt down the canal which was fuuun. Went to a British Sweet Shop which was a childs definition of heaven! That night we played cards and downed a couple of bottles of wine with Barbara which was very enjoyable!!!!!!!
The next day we had a look around Writtle and went to Joanne's Cottage, which is VERY British. We also went to Tesco's which is AWESOME.
That night Barbara had all her family over. Met many more of Ella's distant relatives! Had a really enjoyable night, played skip bo and challenged Ben (one of Barbara's Grandsons) to an eating contest. I won, ofcourse!!!!!!!! The term 'Meadow Lady' was thrown around a bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The meal was brilliant, I tell you what, barbara is definately a brilliant Chef!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ella, Hamish and I entertained the three boys. All hyperactive typical 10 and 12 year olds!!!!!!!!
We were having a bit of a problem with finding cheap train tickets to Manchester. We can definately thank Jo for getting that organised for us, it was MUCH appreciated! She found us train tickets for less than half the price we were going to pay!!!! Who ever knew that Virgin did trains????
The next day, we said our goodbyes to Barbara and Writtle, and headed off to Manchester to stay with Ella's other great aunt Margaret! We arrived in Manchester at around 5pm and caught the Metrolink from Manchester Piccadilly to Timperly where Margaret picked us up. On the way we certainly saw some characters!!!!!!!!!! They have OUTDOOR sidewalk urinals in Manchester Central, now THAT is weird.
That night Margaret cooked us an AWESOME meal which went down a treat! We also met Margarets Son Simon! Then we headed off to meet friends of Ella's (Mary and John) who took us to a couple of Bars. Was a really good night, got into heated discussion regarding Union's!!!!!! Difference in opinion is definately a good thing! Had a great night. Headed back to Margarets around 3am. We had WORLDS WORST Taxi driver. He tried to rip us off. We ended up telling him to pull over and that we would walk. What kind of a Taxi driver doesnt know the area they work in!!!!! FOOL. We all crashed that night!!!!
The next day we met all of Margarets family. They were all very nice! Had a good meal. Her two Grandaughters were an absolute laugh, one reminded us of someone back home. That night we were all so tired we crashed on the couch, watched Jersey Shore, ate Chinese food and discussed life.
And thats where this blog ends, tomorrow we are off to Spain, relax on the beaches of Ibiza. It will be sad to leave the UK but also VERY exciting to go to Spain.
Adios Amigos!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Been an absolute epic week or so since I was able to write a blog post, but, as I said in the beginning, these posts could come at very varying intervals!!!
So where have I been these past couple of weeks you ask, ALL OVER THE BLOODY UK!!!!!!
Our journey begins in the hussle and bussle of the United Kingdom's capital, where her Majesty the Queen resides, Tesco's!!!!!!!!!!!
bahahaha, I mean London.
What an amazing place, a city jamm packed with anything and everything, a city where playing 'spot the Brit' is more popular than anywhere else in England. A place where I could seriously see myself living, where I could live WITHOUT a car... Unless there is tube strikes, then London is the belly of the beast.
Day one (it will not suprise me if I get this all mixed up)... pretty sure we went to Wimbledon???? YES! We went to Wimbledon. We went to Wimbledon, the day that 'transport for London' decided it would be a intelligent idea to close the district line between Pultney Bridge and Wimbledon. We got to Pultney Bridge and went for a brief 'we are not lost!!' stroll before we got on a bus set for Wimbledon. We ended up going too far and having to walk up and down the only hill in the entire United Kingdom. But we got there, where it was late of not is another question!!!!!!! Never been a big tennis fan but the tour was fascinating!!!! Wimbledon is definately a very unique place and or event!!! Had a lazy night, downed a couple of Beck's with the Redhead and ate no where near as good as my fried rice spaghetti bolognese =D
Day two we buggered off to a place by the Name of Madame Tussauds. Sweet as!!!!!! Got many photos with many stars, INCLUDING BOLLYWOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After that we had a squiz at London Brigde and Tower of London and then we began our Jack the Ripper tour. Now THAT, was facinating!!!!! Turned out the killer was 99% more than likely a Polish Nut Job called Aaron.
Day number three, the tube drivers and maintinance men decided it would be an intelligent idea to go on strike. London on a Tube strike is my definition of hell. The overground from Ealing Broadway to Paddington wasn't all that bad, its just the bus ride from Paddington to Hyde Park that made me want to kill small children... they packed SO many people onto those busses, it was not fun AT all. That day we visited Buckingham Palace, or as Hamish likes to call it, Buckinghuge Palace!!!!! Was good to have a look around and get an insight into the Queen. Just makes me want Australia to become a republic even more now, though! We then took a brief stroll to have a look at not-so-big Big Ben. After that we went to the Downing Street and then furthermore onto the Hard Rock Cafe. Bought a T-Shirt, but we sure as hell didnt eat there!! Mortgage anyone????
Twas our last day in London, shead a tear. I became quite fond of that city!!!!!!!!! Had typical british fish and chips for tear, salt and vinegar!!!!! nom nom nom nom nom, went down a treat.
Next day, we got ourselves packed and headed back to central London to have a ride on the London Eye. Money well spent, it was awesome, gave an awesome insight into London and I got my barings!!!! Big Ben actually looked bigger from up there as opposed to ground level. Then, we said goodbye to Rob, Ealing and London, set for Chelmsford (Writtle) where Ella's great Aunt lives!!!!!!! Barbara picked us up from the train station and we lazed around home that day!!! We were rather tired!!!! Dinner was brilliant!
Next day we headed into Cambridge with Barbara and Joanne. Barbara is Ella's Great Aunt and Joanne is Barbara's daughter, have no idea what she is to Ella!!!!!!!! gets all a bit confusing. Had a good day there having a look around the colleges and went on a punt down the canal which was fuuun. Went to a British Sweet Shop which was a childs definition of heaven! That night we played cards and downed a couple of bottles of wine with Barbara which was very enjoyable!!!!!!!
The next day we had a look around Writtle and went to Joanne's Cottage, which is VERY British. We also went to Tesco's which is AWESOME.
That night Barbara had all her family over. Met many more of Ella's distant relatives! Had a really enjoyable night, played skip bo and challenged Ben (one of Barbara's Grandsons) to an eating contest. I won, ofcourse!!!!!!!! The term 'Meadow Lady' was thrown around a bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The meal was brilliant, I tell you what, barbara is definately a brilliant Chef!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ella, Hamish and I entertained the three boys. All hyperactive typical 10 and 12 year olds!!!!!!!!
We were having a bit of a problem with finding cheap train tickets to Manchester. We can definately thank Jo for getting that organised for us, it was MUCH appreciated! She found us train tickets for less than half the price we were going to pay!!!! Who ever knew that Virgin did trains????
The next day, we said our goodbyes to Barbara and Writtle, and headed off to Manchester to stay with Ella's other great aunt Margaret! We arrived in Manchester at around 5pm and caught the Metrolink from Manchester Piccadilly to Timperly where Margaret picked us up. On the way we certainly saw some characters!!!!!!!!!! They have OUTDOOR sidewalk urinals in Manchester Central, now THAT is weird.
That night Margaret cooked us an AWESOME meal which went down a treat! We also met Margarets Son Simon! Then we headed off to meet friends of Ella's (Mary and John) who took us to a couple of Bars. Was a really good night, got into heated discussion regarding Union's!!!!!! Difference in opinion is definately a good thing! Had a great night. Headed back to Margarets around 3am. We had WORLDS WORST Taxi driver. He tried to rip us off. We ended up telling him to pull over and that we would walk. What kind of a Taxi driver doesnt know the area they work in!!!!! FOOL. We all crashed that night!!!!
The next day we met all of Margarets family. They were all very nice! Had a good meal. Her two Grandaughters were an absolute laugh, one reminded us of someone back home. That night we were all so tired we crashed on the couch, watched Jersey Shore, ate Chinese food and discussed life.
And thats where this blog ends, tomorrow we are off to Spain, relax on the beaches of Ibiza. It will be sad to leave the UK but also VERY exciting to go to Spain.
Adios Amigos!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
London and so on...
Wow, a shitload has happened in the last few of days!!!!!! What an absolute rush. Right now, I am in Ealing, which is in West London...
Back to Germany...
As far back as I can remember, was Mongo's, but I have a feeling I may have talked about that in the last post!!!!!!! Mongo's is one awesome restaurant, hells yeah =D
Next thing I can remember is Neuss Schutzenfest!!!! Was a good night, just dancing away, new a fair few of the songs, even some of the German ones which was good, getting my German on more and more =D
Last night in Germany, had dinner with Mara and Bettina, had Prawns, I was a happy Australian =D Then me and Mara went out and chilled, had a couple of Beers and some awesome dessert thing... We just discussed life and how its hard to know what to do at this age... I definately miss being around Mara!!!!!!
The next day was a 5am wake up call off to Dusseldorf International Airport bound for London Heathrow...
The flight was quick, up and down. Spend an hour in the line at the UK border, definately am keen to have a Swedish Passport next time I come to Europe!!!!!! I didn't get the 3rd degree by the customs officers which was nice =D Just asked pretty simple questions.
Then I was off to the Hotel for the day. Novotel London Heathrow, which is about 3km away from terminal 5.. COST ME 17£ which is a rip off, like 30 bucks. NOTE TO ANYONE WHO COMES TO LONDON, LONDON TAXIS DONT TAKE CREDIT CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty much spent the day in the pool or gym watching tv, went to sleep early as I had another early wake up call to go pick a certain Ranga up from the FLUGHAFEN!!!!
Woke up at 5am and took the H1 Hotel Hoppa bus to Terminal 3. Walked in and was looking around for 10 mins or so. Then I spotted ELLA, and ran. Was pretty good to see my dear Ranga friend after 5 weeks!!!!!!!!
We went back to the hotel, went on facebook then headed off to Ealing.
We are staying with a mate of Ella's Uncle, called Rob. Good bloke, pretty nice having 3 strangers live in your place!!!!!!!!!!
Around 4pm, we headed back to Heathrow to pick up one Mr Hamish Fishrips!!!! Took a while to get through customs!!!!! Again, it was good to see a good mate that I haven't seen in 5 weeks!!!!!!!
Headed back to Ealing, Ella crashed on the couch and me and Hamish had a good long chat about the last 5 weeks. Amazing what there is to catch up on!
That night we met Rob's Special Lady friend, Sally, just as friendly and nice as Rob!!!!! We had dinner with them, Vegetarian Curry, was possibly the best vegetarian meal I have EVER eaten and possibly one of the best curries!!! Sorry Priya hahahaha, not that I've ever eaten one of your curries PRIYA, this must change =P
Today, we got our shit together with the 'tube' or the London Underground. Went to the Museum of London and had a heaps good look around, was an excellent Museum, definately very interesting, learnt a lot about London and Yr12 history lesson facts kept poping up here and there!!!!! St Pauls Catherderal was also good to have a look at!!!
Have a couple of more days in London them we are off to Chelmsford/Cambridge and then after that on to Manchester!!! FAIRBRO, your homeland =P
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Exclamation marks, just for you Sophie =p
'til whenever next I can get my shit together and write a blog!!!!!
From Brett, all the way in LONDON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to Germany...
As far back as I can remember, was Mongo's, but I have a feeling I may have talked about that in the last post!!!!!!! Mongo's is one awesome restaurant, hells yeah =D
Next thing I can remember is Neuss Schutzenfest!!!! Was a good night, just dancing away, new a fair few of the songs, even some of the German ones which was good, getting my German on more and more =D
Last night in Germany, had dinner with Mara and Bettina, had Prawns, I was a happy Australian =D Then me and Mara went out and chilled, had a couple of Beers and some awesome dessert thing... We just discussed life and how its hard to know what to do at this age... I definately miss being around Mara!!!!!!
The next day was a 5am wake up call off to Dusseldorf International Airport bound for London Heathrow...
The flight was quick, up and down. Spend an hour in the line at the UK border, definately am keen to have a Swedish Passport next time I come to Europe!!!!!! I didn't get the 3rd degree by the customs officers which was nice =D Just asked pretty simple questions.
Then I was off to the Hotel for the day. Novotel London Heathrow, which is about 3km away from terminal 5.. COST ME 17£ which is a rip off, like 30 bucks. NOTE TO ANYONE WHO COMES TO LONDON, LONDON TAXIS DONT TAKE CREDIT CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty much spent the day in the pool or gym watching tv, went to sleep early as I had another early wake up call to go pick a certain Ranga up from the FLUGHAFEN!!!!
Woke up at 5am and took the H1 Hotel Hoppa bus to Terminal 3. Walked in and was looking around for 10 mins or so. Then I spotted ELLA, and ran. Was pretty good to see my dear Ranga friend after 5 weeks!!!!!!!!
We went back to the hotel, went on facebook then headed off to Ealing.
We are staying with a mate of Ella's Uncle, called Rob. Good bloke, pretty nice having 3 strangers live in your place!!!!!!!!!!
Around 4pm, we headed back to Heathrow to pick up one Mr Hamish Fishrips!!!! Took a while to get through customs!!!!! Again, it was good to see a good mate that I haven't seen in 5 weeks!!!!!!!
Headed back to Ealing, Ella crashed on the couch and me and Hamish had a good long chat about the last 5 weeks. Amazing what there is to catch up on!
That night we met Rob's Special Lady friend, Sally, just as friendly and nice as Rob!!!!! We had dinner with them, Vegetarian Curry, was possibly the best vegetarian meal I have EVER eaten and possibly one of the best curries!!! Sorry Priya hahahaha, not that I've ever eaten one of your curries PRIYA, this must change =P
Today, we got our shit together with the 'tube' or the London Underground. Went to the Museum of London and had a heaps good look around, was an excellent Museum, definately very interesting, learnt a lot about London and Yr12 history lesson facts kept poping up here and there!!!!! St Pauls Catherderal was also good to have a look at!!!
Have a couple of more days in London them we are off to Chelmsford/Cambridge and then after that on to Manchester!!! FAIRBRO, your homeland =P
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Exclamation marks, just for you Sophie =p
'til whenever next I can get my shit together and write a blog!!!!!
From Brett, all the way in LONDON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!
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