I've got a flat in London! Which means that it seems i'll be here for a wee while atleast....already freaking out about how cold the winter is going to be. the air is fresh. the nose is red. i need to buy some warmer shoes!
After Albania, and a quick crusie around Italy for 10 days, I made my way back to the big smoke. I was supposed to spend longer in Italy and do some work on an orchard but my back gave out at some stage during my travels and I had to cut my trip short. All good though, I got here just in time to get my CRB and NZ police check sorted and get some work for the last 4 weeks of term. I've been here for almost two months already....time has flown.
I spent the first month cramping Kates style, crashing in her room. Two weeks ago I found an amazing flat and am loving having my own place (as I'm sure Kate is too!) - if not freaking out a bit about the commitment of having an actual house and it seems theres no means of escape now!
Supply teaching is....interesting. Theres good days and bad ones. Good classes and hellish ones. I'm hoping to find a longer term job as soon as poss so that I can get into a daily routine, and get to know the kids better. Its tiring getting to know the kids names by the end of the day, and then having to do the same thing the next morning!
Ideally a long term position from now until March will pop up, but realistically it looks like it might be a long term job until July! Who said I was only going to be over here for a year? I'm definately going hard with my savings though. The goal is, after 6 months hard slog I'll have enough money to do the rest of my europe travel, and then some to take home for setting up again back there......We will see!!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
sheeps goats scarves high heels
Walking through the main street of Berat = men selling live sheep on the sidewalk, sheep tied up and laid down, panting in the sun awaiting their fate. Up the street, goats with feet tied up awaiting sale. Men sitting in coffee shops (that do ONLY sell coffee and beer). Old ladies dressed in black head to toe, hunched over, head scarves, lovely black handbags, doing the shopping. Men wearing tweed jackets, rimmed hats, shiny shoes and black pants, likely smoking. Markets stalls with 'fresh' fruit and vege, lollies, and cracker sticks. Cobbled streets teeming with young people out of work. Old houses with tiled roofs. Horses sometime wandering the streets by themselves. Families passing on horse drawn carts loaded with miscellaneous crap. Lamb slaughtering festival in the mountains booked for this weekend.....!
Monday, August 15, 2011
albania!!
First of all, the keyboards are crazy so punctuation may be lacking in these enrties....
Albania so far - we flew into Tirane the capital and stayed there for the night at Hostel Albania. Got in trouble pretty quickly because we picked the grapes and pears immediately - a little excited at the prospect of fruit of the vine/tree! Very good fruit though.
Caught up with a couchsurfer (local albanian) over some traditional albanian food -meatballs, old coleslaw, and yoghurt and wandered the streets for the evening.
An afternoon and night in Tirane was enough so we caught a furgon (minibus) down to Berat to find our place of work for the next few weeks. Berat is a lovely little town with a river running through it, mountains in the background, small cobbled streets and walkways, and cute old albanian people still wearing the traditional "communist uniform" of dark dresses, head scarfes for the ladies, and tweed jackets and rimmed hats for the blokes. Very picturesque town.
We have been working hard at our hostel for a few days now and picked up the ropes fairly easily. The hardest thing to deal with is the plumbing here - the water is turned off everyday for atleast a few hours and we have to suss out a complicated pump system to keep the hostel in water.....which still usually runs out so alot of the time we are without water which can be interesting! quite hard to explain to guests to!
other than its pretty easy stuff. Jamie and I have been cooking up a storm for the hostel dinners and getting heaps of compliments on the homemade bread etc. We are pulling the manager in line and suggesting alot of things he could do to improve his business - without being rude of course. He is not going to want us to leave!
We are here for two more weeks and then we have a hit with another farm in southern Tuscany, Italy. Need to start brushing up on our Italian!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Turkey tıme comıng to an end
The last fıve weeks of my englısh nanny experıence has been an experıence I wıll never forget. The rıch Turks are another breed and ıt took me a good 3 weeks to realıse that my job really was just to hang out wıth the gırls and sepak as much englısh as possıble! They had cleaners, they had a cook, they had drıvers, and the gırls were 9 and 11 yrs old so they dıdnt need much help ın anythıng - so, ı spoke englısh and we dıd art actıvıtıes, and we swam ın the pool. Hard work ındeed.
The hardest part really was gettıng bored when the gırls had frıends around! They dıdnt speak much englısh when they were around theır frıends (especıally Emoş the youngest one), so I was redundant, and the parents dıdnt care! I told them that there wasnt much englısh beıng spoken and ı dıdnt really feel usefull at all, they just saıd 'thats ok' and smıled. so ı really was just supposed to hang out and watch the kıds play....atleast I got a faırly good start to my European tan huh?
I had a week off at one stage and flew down to Izmır to see Jamesına. we dıd a huge mıssıon ın to Cappadocıa and checked out Goreme for a few nıghts. After a 12 hour nıght bus (where they had young boys brıngıng us coffee, chocolate and water) our feet were swoollen and we dıdnt smell to great but we fell ınto beıng stınky travellers and raomed the streets. We met an Australıan called Lucy and ınstantly we became an ınseperable threesome. We dıd a tour, saw some amazıng rock formatıons wıth houses craved out ınto them, an underground cıty, drank lots of turk kahve, met a local (Alı) who showed us hıs cave house that he was renovatıng and makıng ınto a hotel (trıed hard to talk hım out of usıng turkısh decor when he got to furnıshıng!) and had an awesome 3 days. We then hopped on another 12hour nıght bus, puffed up our ankles agaın and I spent a couple more nıghts ın Izmır hangıng wıth jamıe. Good tımes.
Durıng thıs week togther jamıe and I also made plans for our further travel and ıts worked out perfectly that we are both goıng to albanıa on wednesday to volunteer ın a backpackers ın berat! Fantastıc tımıng and everythıng has worked out wıckedly. cant waıt to check out the crazy sıghts of albanıa.
After my week off I had hıgh hopes that my last two weeks at the job would go quıckly - unfortunately Emoş had begun to get an attıdtude to doıng her englısh readıng and would sometımes just ıgnore me altogether. Zeynep the oldest was awesome but she was hardly ever home - so after a talk and dıscussıons wıth mum my job ended early (much to my delıght because ım ıtchıng to get travellıng agaın!) and I've been ın a backpackers ın Istanbul for the last few nıghts wıth Lucy (yes, ı got to catch up wıth her agaın!). Its been great, and ıve been showıng off the lıttle bıt of turkısh ıve pıcked up ın the last fıve weeks. I could have stayed at the house but ı wanted to see more of the cıty and be close to everythıng - I go back there tonıght and spend tonıght and tuesday nıght there before gettıng a rıde to the aırport ın wednesday mornıng!
so yes, nannyıng had ıts ups and downs. but the best part ıs Ive got to know a good bıt about the turksıh culture (both the upper class and lower), and I leave the job wıth 2000Euros ın my pocket after 5 weeks! nıce.
off to albanıa on wednesday!
www.beratbackpackers.com ıs where ıll be!
xx
The hardest part really was gettıng bored when the gırls had frıends around! They dıdnt speak much englısh when they were around theır frıends (especıally Emoş the youngest one), so I was redundant, and the parents dıdnt care! I told them that there wasnt much englısh beıng spoken and ı dıdnt really feel usefull at all, they just saıd 'thats ok' and smıled. so ı really was just supposed to hang out and watch the kıds play....atleast I got a faırly good start to my European tan huh?
I had a week off at one stage and flew down to Izmır to see Jamesına. we dıd a huge mıssıon ın to Cappadocıa and checked out Goreme for a few nıghts. After a 12 hour nıght bus (where they had young boys brıngıng us coffee, chocolate and water) our feet were swoollen and we dıdnt smell to great but we fell ınto beıng stınky travellers and raomed the streets. We met an Australıan called Lucy and ınstantly we became an ınseperable threesome. We dıd a tour, saw some amazıng rock formatıons wıth houses craved out ınto them, an underground cıty, drank lots of turk kahve, met a local (Alı) who showed us hıs cave house that he was renovatıng and makıng ınto a hotel (trıed hard to talk hım out of usıng turkısh decor when he got to furnıshıng!) and had an awesome 3 days. We then hopped on another 12hour nıght bus, puffed up our ankles agaın and I spent a couple more nıghts ın Izmır hangıng wıth jamıe. Good tımes.
Durıng thıs week togther jamıe and I also made plans for our further travel and ıts worked out perfectly that we are both goıng to albanıa on wednesday to volunteer ın a backpackers ın berat! Fantastıc tımıng and everythıng has worked out wıckedly. cant waıt to check out the crazy sıghts of albanıa.
After my week off I had hıgh hopes that my last two weeks at the job would go quıckly - unfortunately Emoş had begun to get an attıdtude to doıng her englısh readıng and would sometımes just ıgnore me altogether. Zeynep the oldest was awesome but she was hardly ever home - so after a talk and dıscussıons wıth mum my job ended early (much to my delıght because ım ıtchıng to get travellıng agaın!) and I've been ın a backpackers ın Istanbul for the last few nıghts wıth Lucy (yes, ı got to catch up wıth her agaın!). Its been great, and ıve been showıng off the lıttle bıt of turkısh ıve pıcked up ın the last fıve weeks. I could have stayed at the house but ı wanted to see more of the cıty and be close to everythıng - I go back there tonıght and spend tonıght and tuesday nıght there before gettıng a rıde to the aırport ın wednesday mornıng!
so yes, nannyıng had ıts ups and downs. but the best part ıs Ive got to know a good bıt about the turksıh culture (both the upper class and lower), and I leave the job wıth 2000Euros ın my pocket after 5 weeks! nıce.
off to albanıa on wednesday!
www.beratbackpackers.com ıs where ıll be!
xx
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Nanny Dıarıes
For all the worryıng that I dıd about customs askıng me all sorts of questıons about the reason for my trıp to turkey, we got through wıthout beıng asked anythıng! They barely even looked at us as we went through! We strolled through the gates together there was my drıver on the other sıde, waıtıng for me wıth a sıgn 'Bernadette Ballantyne'. My journey had begun.
There was another sıgn there for a backpackers wıth Sams name on ıt too, so a hasty hug goodbye and we seperated. After two months travellıng almost constantly wıth each other that happened to be a bıt of a shock. But hey, two months wıll scream by and İ'll have 3000 pounds ın my pocket to meet hım somewhere else!
After speedıng along the motorway at sometımes 140km per hr (!) we made ıt to my 'house', or should I say mansıon that you could lıkely fınd ın the Turkısh equıvalent of House and Garden magazıne. Huge, open plan, three storıes, art work everywhere, pool outsıde...and none of thıs sıngle-bed-tıny-cupboard for the nanny, no! I have a huge bed, ensuıte, and a room downstaırs ın the coolest part of the house.
It's soundıng a lıttle too good to be true, rıght? Well, dont get me wrong, ıts a fabulous house and the people are lovely but theres always a sense of ' Im not quıte sure what ım supposed to be doıng' whıch ıs ruınıng the buzz a lıttle. I mean, they have cleaners, a cook, and drıvers so I AM really just there to help the gırls get ready for stuff (of the whıch for the fırst few days the cook has been helpıng me because the gırls are more famılıar wıth her and I thınk ıts usually her job), and then hangıng out wıth them and speakıng englısh! quıte crazy.
The fırst day was especıally wıerd because the gırls had mates around so they werent speakıng much englısh at all, the second day was much better where ıt was just me and the gırls and I got a chance to bond wıth Zeynep (the oldest and the coolest as far as Im concerned - dont tell Amoş). The thırd day was then Zeyneps bırthday whıch was hectıc! As much as I was sıttıng by the pool watchıng them half the tıme, I was organısıng games and stuff as well....
Thıs was the day that I wıtnessed my fırst fıght between the sısters...nasty stuff. Haır pullıng, yellıng, cryıng. And then the Mum tellıng off Zeynep ın the same way (mınus the cryıng). Yellıng and haır pullıng! Then 20mıns later they were all back to normal and everyone was lovely agaın....hhmmmm...
Today I had a day off. Canan (mum) and Cem (dad) were awesome. They got the drıver to drop me ın the Old Town - the tourıst area - and then wrote down stuff that I should see. I bought a map as soon as I got ın there too so I was sorted. They also showed me how to get to the Metro so theır drıver only had to drıve 5mıns to get me when I came back, ınstead of the 45mıns ınto the Old Town!
The Old Town was very tourıst orıentated. Everyone you walked past would say 'hello' and try to get you to come ınto theır store. I saıd ,no thanks, to most of them, and was pretty sıck of them by the end of the day so just started walkıng rıght past.
I went to Topkapı Sayar, Ayasophıa, the Blue Mosque, the Basılıca Cıstern, and the Grand Bazaar. On my way to the Grand Bazaar I was asked by these young volunteers who had 'Free Informatıon' wrıtten all over theır shırts (compared to the shıfty old men who kept pretendıng to just be beıng frıendly and tryıng to show me places but were goıng to be expectıng a tıp) ıf they could practıce theır englısh wıth me whıle I walked. I saıd sure. They were lovely young boys and ıt was nıce to be speakıng englısh to someone for a whıle. They ended up showıng me pretty much all the way to the bazaar.
I had only been ın the cıty for about 4 hours but ıt was enough for the day - hey, Ive got two months here, why rush? Canan has already told me that I can probably take the gırls ın and do some other thıngs lıke a boat trıp up the Bospherous (the rıver that seperates the European sıde and the Asıan sıde of Turkey), or another ınterestıng Istanbul thıng to do. So I'm sure I'll get to see alot of thıngs.
Tomorrow we are preparıng for a boat trıp. We fly down to Kas (southern turkey) where they have a summer house and theır boat, we then head off for a week around the Greek Islands! Seems to be somethıng they do at least twıce a summer so they,re very blase about ıt all...I try to hıde my dısbelıef (meanwhıle ım textıng OMG behınd my back!).
Thats my turkey experıence so far! PReeettttyyyy crazy. I thınk ıts not the Turkısh culture that ıs goıng to be my culture shock, but the Rıch Turkısh culture that I wıll fınd the strangest. Dont worry, I'll try not to let ıt change me too much. :)
So ıf youre one of my three fans on thıs blog, message me. Or ıf you can afford a telphone call, even better! I'll be cravıng englısh speakıng! +905345072819 (I thınk - ıf thıs doesnt work facebook me)
Sorry about the terrıble typıng - the Turkısh keyboards are dıfferent. It took me half an hour to fınd the @ key when I fırst hopped on!
x
There was another sıgn there for a backpackers wıth Sams name on ıt too, so a hasty hug goodbye and we seperated. After two months travellıng almost constantly wıth each other that happened to be a bıt of a shock. But hey, two months wıll scream by and İ'll have 3000 pounds ın my pocket to meet hım somewhere else!
After speedıng along the motorway at sometımes 140km per hr (!) we made ıt to my 'house', or should I say mansıon that you could lıkely fınd ın the Turkısh equıvalent of House and Garden magazıne. Huge, open plan, three storıes, art work everywhere, pool outsıde...and none of thıs sıngle-bed-tıny-cupboard for the nanny, no! I have a huge bed, ensuıte, and a room downstaırs ın the coolest part of the house.
It's soundıng a lıttle too good to be true, rıght? Well, dont get me wrong, ıts a fabulous house and the people are lovely but theres always a sense of ' Im not quıte sure what ım supposed to be doıng' whıch ıs ruınıng the buzz a lıttle. I mean, they have cleaners, a cook, and drıvers so I AM really just there to help the gırls get ready for stuff (of the whıch for the fırst few days the cook has been helpıng me because the gırls are more famılıar wıth her and I thınk ıts usually her job), and then hangıng out wıth them and speakıng englısh! quıte crazy.
The fırst day was especıally wıerd because the gırls had mates around so they werent speakıng much englısh at all, the second day was much better where ıt was just me and the gırls and I got a chance to bond wıth Zeynep (the oldest and the coolest as far as Im concerned - dont tell Amoş). The thırd day was then Zeyneps bırthday whıch was hectıc! As much as I was sıttıng by the pool watchıng them half the tıme, I was organısıng games and stuff as well....
Thıs was the day that I wıtnessed my fırst fıght between the sısters...nasty stuff. Haır pullıng, yellıng, cryıng. And then the Mum tellıng off Zeynep ın the same way (mınus the cryıng). Yellıng and haır pullıng! Then 20mıns later they were all back to normal and everyone was lovely agaın....hhmmmm...
Today I had a day off. Canan (mum) and Cem (dad) were awesome. They got the drıver to drop me ın the Old Town - the tourıst area - and then wrote down stuff that I should see. I bought a map as soon as I got ın there too so I was sorted. They also showed me how to get to the Metro so theır drıver only had to drıve 5mıns to get me when I came back, ınstead of the 45mıns ınto the Old Town!
The Old Town was very tourıst orıentated. Everyone you walked past would say 'hello' and try to get you to come ınto theır store. I saıd ,no thanks, to most of them, and was pretty sıck of them by the end of the day so just started walkıng rıght past.
I went to Topkapı Sayar, Ayasophıa, the Blue Mosque, the Basılıca Cıstern, and the Grand Bazaar. On my way to the Grand Bazaar I was asked by these young volunteers who had 'Free Informatıon' wrıtten all over theır shırts (compared to the shıfty old men who kept pretendıng to just be beıng frıendly and tryıng to show me places but were goıng to be expectıng a tıp) ıf they could practıce theır englısh wıth me whıle I walked. I saıd sure. They were lovely young boys and ıt was nıce to be speakıng englısh to someone for a whıle. They ended up showıng me pretty much all the way to the bazaar.
I had only been ın the cıty for about 4 hours but ıt was enough for the day - hey, Ive got two months here, why rush? Canan has already told me that I can probably take the gırls ın and do some other thıngs lıke a boat trıp up the Bospherous (the rıver that seperates the European sıde and the Asıan sıde of Turkey), or another ınterestıng Istanbul thıng to do. So I'm sure I'll get to see alot of thıngs.
Tomorrow we are preparıng for a boat trıp. We fly down to Kas (southern turkey) where they have a summer house and theır boat, we then head off for a week around the Greek Islands! Seems to be somethıng they do at least twıce a summer so they,re very blase about ıt all...I try to hıde my dısbelıef (meanwhıle ım textıng OMG behınd my back!).
Thats my turkey experıence so far! PReeettttyyyy crazy. I thınk ıts not the Turkısh culture that ıs goıng to be my culture shock, but the Rıch Turkısh culture that I wıll fınd the strangest. Dont worry, I'll try not to let ıt change me too much. :)
So ıf youre one of my three fans on thıs blog, message me. Or ıf you can afford a telphone call, even better! I'll be cravıng englısh speakıng! +905345072819 (I thınk - ıf thıs doesnt work facebook me)
Sorry about the terrıble typıng - the Turkısh keyboards are dıfferent. It took me half an hour to fınd the @ key when I fırst hopped on!
x
Monday, July 4, 2011
wwoofing in combe martin
this wwoofing experience was soooo much better than the last! we were working in a big garden on a very steep hill (my legs are looking fantastic after a week of moving up and down there!), we mulched, weeded, and even got to visit an apiary and got amongst the bee hives! very cool place, with lovely people, great food, and amzing scenic walks in the weekend. Went for our first british swim of the holiday, and am now looking forward to more simming in turkey!
we're in london now. went to a music festival on saturday which was wicked, and are now waiting to head to the airport on our way to turkey....! whoop, bring on the heat!
we're in london now. went to a music festival on saturday which was wicked, and are now waiting to head to the airport on our way to turkey....! whoop, bring on the heat!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
aberdeen - glasgow - edinburgh
Well, we survived Ireland a traipsed our way up to Aberdeen in Scotland. Auk aye its cold up there. We THOUGHT we'd got lucky and hit their summer season right on time when the first 2 days were lovely sunshine....little did we know that they were the hottest days that Aberdeen has had in 5 years or so...and it was only 26 degrees....so we layered on the clothes and handled the chill blain.
Our 'farming' experience ended up just being a 'helping out on a building site' experience as our wwoofing host just used us as lackys during a renovation. I've learnt how to insulate a house atleast, and how to sweep up after builders that know what they are doing...! After 2 days of that rubbish it was looking dire and our boredom was getting the better of us. We stayed in a caravan at the back of the house, with no TV, no radio, and a few crappy books. If we weren't relying on our hosts for a ride into town it was a 45 minute trudge up the country road to the bus stop, then a 20min bus to town. needless to stay our legs are looking pretty fine after that stay - unfortunately due to boredom our tummys are looking beerly round ...:)
Luckily for me our host is in the midst of building a cafe/play barn and I talked him into letting me do a mural for him so the rest of my days were spent drawing and painting - I'll get pictures up eventually. Sam was still floating around getting mighty bored and we escaped to Glasgow after 8 days there and randomly caught up with an old high school mate, Bas.
We spent 3 days in Glasgow - very cool grungy city. The Kelvinbridge Art gallery and Museum is amazing. Its your classic Night at the Museum type of museum. Great taxidermy section, huge models everywhere, and an awesome collection of Scottish and international art. We also went to a stand up comedy gig and saw some classic scottish improv - "Whose Line is it anyway" has nothing on these guys. Hilarious.
Then a 4 pound bus took us to our favourite Scottish city yet - Edinburgh. I dont know if it was the walking malls, or the Castle in the middle of the city, or the street performers, or the fact that we caught up with our mate Elliot again for a few nights of hilarity - but we loved Edinburgh. Very cool energy in this city. We went on a tour of the original alleyways that are now under the city too - very cool to be imagining the 12th Century people and how they lived.
And now we're in London, after a few days hanging with the little sis and checking out the Zoo we are about to head to a small beach side town of Combe Martin. After a quick google search this town looks very promising and I cant wait to check it out. Lets hope that this wwoofing experience is better than the last one!!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Galway and now Banagher
Galway is a lovely little city - bustling streets with street musicians and artists every ten steps. Brilliant Irish music available everywhere. We made friends with a couple of Aussie girls who we met in our Belfast backpackers, and coincidentally were staying in the same backpackers in Galway too!
I left the boys alone for a day while they wallowed in a hangover and cruised over Inis Mor - one of the Aran islands. Beautiful place with so much history and its seems they haven't moved much through time! still very quaint villages (a village can be made up of just 8 houses) and classic Gaelic people. Very cold though - luckily the islands are famous for their woollen jumpers and other wares, so I invested in some Aran island socks to get me home with risk of hypothermia.
We've now made it to a very small town, in the middle of Ireland, called Banagher. My old flatmate from Whiti, Keelim, lives here and is showing us around. Ironically the smaller the towns seem the get the bigger our nights turn out! Not much rest for the liver as yet :)
Keelim might be taking us up the River Shannon for a cruise later this evening. Then tomorrow we head to Dublin for one more night of rest before scooting over to Aberdeen for some Angus cattle farming!!
Loving it x
I left the boys alone for a day while they wallowed in a hangover and cruised over Inis Mor - one of the Aran islands. Beautiful place with so much history and its seems they haven't moved much through time! still very quaint villages (a village can be made up of just 8 houses) and classic Gaelic people. Very cold though - luckily the islands are famous for their woollen jumpers and other wares, so I invested in some Aran island socks to get me home with risk of hypothermia.
We've now made it to a very small town, in the middle of Ireland, called Banagher. My old flatmate from Whiti, Keelim, lives here and is showing us around. Ironically the smaller the towns seem the get the bigger our nights turn out! Not much rest for the liver as yet :)
Keelim might be taking us up the River Shannon for a cruise later this evening. Then tomorrow we head to Dublin for one more night of rest before scooting over to Aberdeen for some Angus cattle farming!!
Loving it x
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
ireland - my liver will be ruined
its true, manchester does do a fantastic curry. it was a lovely last night with anna and the lads cruising Curry Lane and gorging ourselves silly.
Dublin also hides some hidden truths - it IS really expensive to do anything there, AND the irish DO like to drink, alot. Our first few nights in Dublin did involve a fair bit of drinking to be sure. The liver is at rest now though with a couple more nights in Belfast before heading to Galway.
Dublin can be summed in up with a few activities, other than the aforementioned drinking we also did a lot of strolling about; some of that accidently when I led the gang in the wrong direction home after our quick (hungover) visit to the Guiness brewery. We headed out of the city and down to the cute port town of Don Laoghaire (said 'don Lerry') for the annual Redbull Flugtag. Google it if you dont know it. Crazy stuff. Lots of people and extreme gale force winds rattling the bones. Not a good day to be wearing jandels for sure.
We've now made it to Belfast. Elliot has a friend that lives here so she showed us to one of the only pubs thats open on a monday night - coincedently a gay pub that was showcasing drag queen kareoke for the night! Sam and Elliot got in the action and sung a lovely duet "time after time" :)
hilarious. Oh, before that we checked out the Crown. the oldest pub in Belfast. AMAZING. Very ornate and overly decorated with carvings, stained glass, and excellent atmosphere.
We cruised up to the Giants Causeway yesterday - absolutely beautiful. Walked along the rope bridge and stopped in the gift shop at the Bushmills distillery. Today we are getting some more history and doing a wee tour around the city whilst getting a guide to tell us about the political/religious history around northern ireland. should be interesting.
Galway tomorrow.
Dublin also hides some hidden truths - it IS really expensive to do anything there, AND the irish DO like to drink, alot. Our first few nights in Dublin did involve a fair bit of drinking to be sure. The liver is at rest now though with a couple more nights in Belfast before heading to Galway.
Dublin can be summed in up with a few activities, other than the aforementioned drinking we also did a lot of strolling about; some of that accidently when I led the gang in the wrong direction home after our quick (hungover) visit to the Guiness brewery. We headed out of the city and down to the cute port town of Don Laoghaire (said 'don Lerry') for the annual Redbull Flugtag. Google it if you dont know it. Crazy stuff. Lots of people and extreme gale force winds rattling the bones. Not a good day to be wearing jandels for sure.
We've now made it to Belfast. Elliot has a friend that lives here so she showed us to one of the only pubs thats open on a monday night - coincedently a gay pub that was showcasing drag queen kareoke for the night! Sam and Elliot got in the action and sung a lovely duet "time after time" :)
hilarious. Oh, before that we checked out the Crown. the oldest pub in Belfast. AMAZING. Very ornate and overly decorated with carvings, stained glass, and excellent atmosphere.
We cruised up to the Giants Causeway yesterday - absolutely beautiful. Walked along the rope bridge and stopped in the gift shop at the Bushmills distillery. Today we are getting some more history and doing a wee tour around the city whilst getting a guide to tell us about the political/religious history around northern ireland. should be interesting.
Galway tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
so much seen, in so little time!
Well, we've done so much in the last few days I'm bound to miss something out, but here goes!!
We hopped on the train to Manchester - only to realise we'd booked on the day after the FA Cup Final so the train was full of Manchester City fans drinking, singing, and celebrating their victory. Pretty entertaining.
We got to Manchester and experienced our first real rainy day since we've been here....and have been experiencing days of rain for the last three....but they havent been torential and we've been really lucky at getting a few bursts of light sprinkle while walking about the sights.
Our beautiful, welcoming, and enthusiastic tour guide - miss Anna Murphy- has been VERY obliging in driving us to the far reaches to see some of the best bits that Manchester area has to offer. We first travelled south west to Northern Wales to check out Castle Conwy (which has been there since the 12th Century), and a lovely village called Chester. Lots of character and a cool feeling of 'real' England. We also got to see and explore the 2m square smallest house in Britain. We passed an amazing castle on the way to Conwy and when we asked about how we could get to it we were told that its "only 200 years old" so probably not that interesting to look at and was privately owned anyway....imagine.
On the way home, we finished the day off with traditional English fish, chips, and mushy peas.
Today we travelled north and explored some bits of the beautiful Lakes District. We saw Lake Windermere (famous for Beattrix Potter) and Lake Conniston. Very cute viallges, with amazing scenery in between. We thought we'd seen some lovely countryside yesterday but this was just amazing. Lush green forests and paddocks, speckled with sheep, cows, stone walls and amazing buildings.
We quickly visited the Trafford Centre on the way home - a huge, elaborately decorated shopping mall. The food court was like being on a cruise ship with a band playing classic 'love boat' music and oldies dancing. There was lion statues at every entrance, marble staircases with gold trims, roman statues and frescoes painted on most of the ceilings - the most intense mall we've ever experienced!
Tomorrow we are sorting out our trip around Ireland and having an organising day in Manchester city - time to buy some wellingtons for wwoofing! We might be ending the night with a famous Manchester curry, beer, and pub quiz!!
We hopped on the train to Manchester - only to realise we'd booked on the day after the FA Cup Final so the train was full of Manchester City fans drinking, singing, and celebrating their victory. Pretty entertaining.
We got to Manchester and experienced our first real rainy day since we've been here....and have been experiencing days of rain for the last three....but they havent been torential and we've been really lucky at getting a few bursts of light sprinkle while walking about the sights.
Our beautiful, welcoming, and enthusiastic tour guide - miss Anna Murphy- has been VERY obliging in driving us to the far reaches to see some of the best bits that Manchester area has to offer. We first travelled south west to Northern Wales to check out Castle Conwy (which has been there since the 12th Century), and a lovely village called Chester. Lots of character and a cool feeling of 'real' England. We also got to see and explore the 2m square smallest house in Britain. We passed an amazing castle on the way to Conwy and when we asked about how we could get to it we were told that its "only 200 years old" so probably not that interesting to look at and was privately owned anyway....imagine.
On the way home, we finished the day off with traditional English fish, chips, and mushy peas.
Today we travelled north and explored some bits of the beautiful Lakes District. We saw Lake Windermere (famous for Beattrix Potter) and Lake Conniston. Very cute viallges, with amazing scenery in between. We thought we'd seen some lovely countryside yesterday but this was just amazing. Lush green forests and paddocks, speckled with sheep, cows, stone walls and amazing buildings.
We quickly visited the Trafford Centre on the way home - a huge, elaborately decorated shopping mall. The food court was like being on a cruise ship with a band playing classic 'love boat' music and oldies dancing. There was lion statues at every entrance, marble staircases with gold trims, roman statues and frescoes painted on most of the ceilings - the most intense mall we've ever experienced!
Tomorrow we are sorting out our trip around Ireland and having an organising day in Manchester city - time to buy some wellingtons for wwoofing! We might be ending the night with a famous Manchester curry, beer, and pub quiz!!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Walkabout
My feet are sore.
Today we walked down to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. HUGE spectacle. Masses of people hanging around for it, irate guards/security moving people along to let it run smoothly....HIGHLIGHT we saw the Queen drive past! and we saw Prince Charles drive past, and we saw a squirell in the park! very cute. The squirell, not so much the Royals.
We then braved the tube for the first time - found it way easier to understand and use than all the hype makes out - and went to explore the Tower of London. MASSIVE PLACE. Beautiful buildings, beautiful grounds, amazing history.
Later we went to the Tate modern and used our last scrap of energy strolling around looking at art.
Very cultured day. very tired now.
Tomorrow we move backpackers and head out to Shepherds Bush. We might just try find our way to Abbey road for a much wanted photo op.
Loving it x
Today we walked down to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. HUGE spectacle. Masses of people hanging around for it, irate guards/security moving people along to let it run smoothly....HIGHLIGHT we saw the Queen drive past! and we saw Prince Charles drive past, and we saw a squirell in the park! very cute. The squirell, not so much the Royals.
We then braved the tube for the first time - found it way easier to understand and use than all the hype makes out - and went to explore the Tower of London. MASSIVE PLACE. Beautiful buildings, beautiful grounds, amazing history.
Later we went to the Tate modern and used our last scrap of energy strolling around looking at art.
Very cultured day. very tired now.
Tomorrow we move backpackers and head out to Shepherds Bush. We might just try find our way to Abbey road for a much wanted photo op.
Loving it x
Monday, May 9, 2011
london
LONG HAUL FLIGHTS SUCK- god bless blind folds, neck pillows and valium...thats all i have to say.
but we are here! yay!
we spent yesterday with bleary, stringing eyes wandering around the red light district of soho and checking out all the interesting people before crashing hard onto our pillows at about 8pm.
woke up early (4am), dozed until about 6am, then got up, showered, and wandered to Tesco for a few bits of fruit and other essentials. Bought yoghurt and muesli for breakfast only to remember on the stroll back to the backpackers that I forgot the cutlery set Mum got me, and I dont have a bowl.....will have to do some sneaky 'spoon lifting' today....
off on a bus tour of the top sights today to see all the typical tourist stuff and figure out which ones we want to see more of.
right - im off to find a spoon.
x
but we are here! yay!
we spent yesterday with bleary, stringing eyes wandering around the red light district of soho and checking out all the interesting people before crashing hard onto our pillows at about 8pm.
woke up early (4am), dozed until about 6am, then got up, showered, and wandered to Tesco for a few bits of fruit and other essentials. Bought yoghurt and muesli for breakfast only to remember on the stroll back to the backpackers that I forgot the cutlery set Mum got me, and I dont have a bowl.....will have to do some sneaky 'spoon lifting' today....
off on a bus tour of the top sights today to see all the typical tourist stuff and figure out which ones we want to see more of.
right - im off to find a spoon.
x
Monday, May 2, 2011
Dental check up
A final dental check before I leave.
All done in about 30mins!!
One filling - "I think, we'll try to do this without an injection so its quicker, does that sound alright with you?"
"MRGFIBHHHHH"
"Good, lets go then."
Teeth cleaned and polished - "I can see that you enjoy scrubbing your teeth, so you might just want to be aware of that, although I couldn't ask for anyone better at brushing your teeth. Good good."
"MMmrfgggff"
Two wisdon teeth out - "Now, I could just take one out and then bring you back tomorrow and do the other one, or we could just get them both out of the way today if you're feeling brave?"
"Bfghgkhhhh"
"Good, lets go then"
"Oohh, wow, look at this. We've managed to pull out some bone on this tooth. It was really stuck in there!"
"OK, you're all good to go now. You might want to take some painkillers in about an hour before those injections wear off."
"Brggfffffff"
6 more sleeps!
Well, I've started to get excited.
It took a while coming but the restlessness has started to sink in....along with a head cold that is turning my brain to porridge! We are making plans, booking trains, booking flights, booking backpackers.......wondering how far our pounds are actually going to go....I am ever more thankful of that nannying set up in Turkey, to ease the pressure on the wallet.
"The dollar is really good now, its a great time to travel..." says the bank teller smiling, as my $3000NZD gets converted into $1457GBP.Sad face.
Only a few more "farewells" and "see ya laters" left to do, and my twin brother, little sister and I, hop on a plane for one of the best experiences of our lives.
Welcome to my adventure.
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