My First (Cold) Birthday - Berlin

Somewhere between moving to London, finding my feet, starting the a new job, making friends, exploring london & some of europe, I found a best friend - Steph(boy). We met on July 1st (my first day @ Bloomberg), and 2 weeks later he took over training me when our other colleague was away. He took pity on me, we got along, and became really good friends.

After my trip to Oktoberfest/Prague/Bamberg/Dusseldorf, I came home to London to hear from Steph that he was interested in me. Long story short, after a bit of confusion, some hesitations, and a LOT of talking.. a first date led to a 2nd, and a 3rd, and nek minnit - we're together. 

Before any of the above happened, I'd booked to take Steph to Budapest for his birthday the following February. So with my birthday in November, he stole my idea and booked a trip for us to Berlin. Given the new-found romance,  Berlin was definitely going to be a bit of a test...

One of the perks of being a Valentines Day baby (born late Nov) means (in Europe) the start of the Christmas Markets. And aside from a few other countries, Germany's are supposed to be the best. So we jetted off to (FREEZING but not snowing) Berlin for my first EVER cold birthday.

What we didn't realise when booking the hotel was that we'd booked in the Financial District, which meant there wasn't a lot buzzing around us on a weekend. Although we were a close to our first stop - the meeting point for the free walking tour - Brandenberg Gates.

Don't bother asking me what we learned on that 3 hour tour, but trust me it was bloody interesting. I know we went to the Jewish Memorial (weirdly intense), the Book Burning Memorial, the parking lot ontop of the bunker where Hitler shot himself, checkpoint Charlie, some of the remains of the Berlin Wall, and more.

This place was the COLDEST I'd ever been. I remember I couldn't feel my feet (I was wearing boots) after about an hour, and my hands were so cold numb and yellow, that one of the guys on our tour gave me his ski-gloves to wear for the rest of the tour. C-O-L-D. Definitely not the 30something degree birthday that I'm used to.

We bought a bottle of red wine from the supermarket and drank that in our hotel room before dinner. The wine out there is surprisingly good! We picked a random restaurant for my birthday dinner; ate a lot, and drank a lot.

The Xmas markets were amazing. So beautifully decorated, the little pop-up bars are heating with indoor seating, SO MUCH FOOD. I love LOVE a good currywurst. And the melted cheese on baguettes, and all the roasted nuts, and fudge. I was in HEAVEN. It's so easy to spend half the day just wandering through the different markets :)

Rule #6: Find the local markets!

I should preface this this by saying that Steph calls me Chip - mainly because I have chubby cheeks like a Chipmunk, and now also because I chipped my front tooth on the pavement when I fell during a run. Anyway - looking for a breakfast place on our last day and we came across a place called 'Chipps'. SOLD. And my god, a good choice. I dont even remember what we had, but pancakes and a big breakky sounds about right - I can remember being extremely full and satisfied on the way home.. 

✌

Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes

I made my first friend in London at a running club on my 2nd or 3rd day in London. Her name's Chanti, and 1.5 years later we're still friends :D (Funnily enough, I met another really close friend Steph at a different running club a few weeks later - I think running clubs are the way to go for meeting new people!)

We (Chanti & I) registered to run the Nice-Cannes Marathon together in a team. So, I would run from Nice to Antibe (21km), and tag Chanti who would run from Antibes to Cannes. 

 The run was BEAUTIFUL. Majority of my half was along the French Riviera, mostly flat (mind, VERY strong headwinds), but definitely the most breathtaking view (and best distraction) when running for 2 hours. 

We both finished in a total of about 4hrs 15mins. The best part - the medals! If you ran as a team, you got these click-clack medals that fit into each-other and make 1 big medal. Clever frenchies!

Nice is nice (ha), but my god - full of people with SO much money! And prices are adjusted accordingly - 2 coffees (tiny) cost us €10! We met up with some of the other guys from the run club after the run, and then again later that eve after dinner, for more drinks. Another very drunk (and expensive) night out, which meant a cheap grocery shop stop in the morning for breakky instead of a cafe. We sat at the beach soaking up the rays (and the scenery) before heading home.

Escaping the cold/wet of London for mid 20's sun and a run along the riviera was definitely a good idea. We're planning it again for 2015... Mainly for the medals :P

✌

Thirsty Swagman

Prague/Bamberg/Dusseldorf

So I get off my bus in Prague - one of myunexpected favourite cities from 2012 - and head to the hotel,  give my name at reception, and I'm shown to my room. 

All I can say is that coming from a scummy hostel in Munich that I shared with 7 others, to my twin room in a 4* hotel - Wow wow wow. The sheets were clean, the room was flashy, complete with TV and those little complimentary shampoo/conditioners. I don't know what I'd expected, but I definitely didn't expect this from a tour called 'Thirsty Swagman'. 

I chilled until Shoogs and the rest of the tour showed up. Shoogs was staying for one overlapping night and then flying out the following eve. I was roomed with a Kiwi girl and Shoogs. We got ready, headed downstairs and met the rest of the group. To be honest, only a few of them were my kinda people, but that's all I needed because I bonded with Shoogs, Chi, and Zuza pretty quickly! The rest of the guys were mainly RAAF guys from Australia, which meant mutual Facebook friends. They were friendly enough, and one of them seemed to have a weirdly aggressive relationship with an American chic on the tour. Easier to steer clear.

Anyway, I guess the whole point of the 'Thirsty Swagman' tours is that you go out on the piss every night, and spend the next day recovering. So the first night out was a pub-crawl, as was the next, and the next.. I think you get where I'm going. The 3 cities kind-of blur into one. So here comes some more dot-points on what I do remember:

Prague

- We went on a hunt for the John Lennon Wall (a must-see, as I missed it last time!) and you can never take too many pictures

- The bridges in are beautiful - but don't stand too close to the edge or you might lose your camera (as Shoogs did)

- Lunch @ 'School Restaurant' on the river was uber relaxing.

- The astronomical-clock is gorgeous, as is the rest of the city. Do not visit Prague without a camera.

- Massages are cheap!

- Zuza's name is always fun to say

Bamberg

- Not a lot to see/do here, but dancing down the street along the Canals with Zuza and Chi was definitely a highlight.

- Never underestimate female bonding. I had a long-distance romance called off via email at a pub in Bamberg (fun!), and although I'd known them for 2 days - those girls treated me like I was their best friend.

- €15 for fake timberlands is a bargain 

Dusseldorf

- Some people have too much money. The hotel we stayed in, was INSANELY flashy.

- 260 ish bars & clubs, within 1sq km = Dangerous.

- Germans really are eclectic with their music taste - there were literally hiphop clubs next to heavy metal bars, and burlesque clubs next to a jazz cafe. Something for everyone.

- Don't get drunk and try to order €80 of room service at your hotel unless you've got someone there to stop you (Thanks Chi).

- I realised I'm running out of money, drinking doesn't help a sad heart, a bit happy to be going back to London, and in massive need of a detox!

Nothing like a drunken week away to cleanse the soul...
✌

Oktoberfest

Another thing on my Europe bucket-list: not just the largest beer festival in the world, but the largest fair altogether - OKTOBERFEST. Allana and I booked to go for Munich's 2013 Closing Weekend. Held since 1810, around 6 MILLION people visit over the 16/17 day festival each year, 6 main breweries and over 7 million litres of beer poured - with one little issue for me: I don't drink beer.

So I booked with the tour company Fanatics - for a 3 night hostel stay - and Allana booked for the same but with Top Deck. Basically we needed the accommodation that the tour companies were offering, because we left it too late to book and everywhere had either sold out, or was extortionate pricing. So £300 for 3nights in a hostel (although a COMPLETE ripoff) was what we had to fork out. 

But, about 1 month before our Oktoberfest trip - I got an unexpected email..

The 'Thirsty Swagman' himself - Kenneth - had emailed me to advise that I had won the Thirsty Swagman facebook competition, for a 12 night, €2500, 4-5* Europe trip. What-the-f*ck. I didn't believe it - so I had a quick google of the tour company, and true enough, Thirsty Swagman was owned and run by a guy called Kenneth, and the tour I'd won looked AMAZING. Oktoberfest, Maria Alm (Austria), Prague, Bamberg, and Dusseldorf. One catch though - the trip INCLUDED Oktoberfest, but on different dates to what I'd already booked and paid for (the tour started IN Munich on the Wednesday before the closing weekend).. Luckily - Ken was a gem, and told me that if I could find another FEMALE to take the first half of the tour, I could meet them in Prague (missing out on Maria Alm) after my Oktoberfest weekend. Otherwise, I'd have to give up my €2500 spot on the tour. My issue - I'd only been in London for like 3 months, and didn't know any ladies that could take it. Long story short, through a friend - I met Sam, aka Shoogs. This lady was a blessing in disguise in more ways than one, and is now one of my close friends. Shoogs was stoked, and flew out to Munich on the Wednesday. I was to fly out on the Friday eve, when the Thirsty Swagman tour was headed for Maria Alm. 

Lans and I landed late on the Friday so we went straight to bed in our bunkbedded dorms.. All we knew was that we had to be ready and downstairs by 7am, to walk over to the Oktoberfest tents. They open at 9am, and if you're not one of the first in the tent, goodluck getting a table. I met the other girls from the Fanatics tour, all Aussie or Kiwi - great bunch! Most living in London, others on the usual Aussie trip around Europe. We figured we'd team up and get a table as close to the stage as possible (because the centre of the tent usually hosts a stage platform where the band for the day will perform). The tent doors opened, and OH MY... Everyone gushes in like it's the Boxing Day sales and there's only 1 x 50inch TV left.. It was unreal.

We got a table, and started getting our first order ready for the Kellner/Kellnerin (waiter/waitress) - we'd been told to ALWAYS TIP the first round. So each stein (1litre) of beer is officially something like €9.10, which means you will always pay a flat €10 at the least. BUT, if you want good service throughout the day, pay at LEAST €20 for your first stein, and he/she will be loyal to your table. Otherwise, you might find yourself waiting a while for each round of beer. These guys & gals work off tips only, and they work HARD (carrying 7 FULL steins in one arm is standard). Anyway, after ordering my first (and only) full stein, and shouting 'Prost' (cheers) about 6 times, it all began - and I managed to finish that stein. Not actually bad at all! but the beer is STRONG, so it'll be Radlers for me (half beer / half lemonade) for the rest of the weekend.

I don't really know how to put into words the atmosphere inside the tents. When you think about it, it's a bunch of strangers sitting in giant tents drinking beer and singing songs -for about 12 hours - could get boring right? WRONG. It's so much more than that. Everyone's trading stories, trying to learn words in eachother's languages and songs in german, yelling 'prost' a thousand times, cheers-ing as hard as possible each time.. And the Band - incredible. Kept us entertained throughout the day with their german songs, oldies like 'Country Road' or 'Heyyyyyyy, hey baby, ooh, ahh, I wanna knowwww, if you'll be my girl'. Then - out of nowhere, late afternoon, the last thing you expected out of the traditional german band that could be easily made up of retired old men - starts busting out songs like 'Avicii - Wake me up' - a huge crowd pleaser - which ends up being our anthem for the weekend. 

The bouncers/security guards had one rule - no skulling/downing your steins. If you do, they throw you out. I only saw a few people try it, and they were both thrown out. As the day goes on, you understand why - because people get messier and messier, a few scuffles and arguments here and there - but for majority of the day, it's an incredible HAPPY place. Another one of those tips we'd had for Oktoberfest, was to make sure that you get out of the tent at some point, and explore the festival site. So we escaped the mayhem in the tents for a couple of hours, and got exploring. The place surrounding the tents reminded me of the Perth Royal Show .. Think rides, stalls, games, food.. The girls from my hostel room and I all ventured into the Fun-Haus. Think of a clown's obstacle course with spinning cylinders and rickety bridges and mirrors etc. We came out bruised, but smiling.

That night was interesting - I'd managed to have a kip on my stein glass for about 20 minutes around 2pm - which didn't phase the guys on our table, cause they kept 'prost-ing' as hard as they could with their steins above my head, which of course ended in some shattered glass, a near-fistycuffs between Allana and one my hostel roommates (neither knew that the other was trying to make sure my head wasnt impaled), a few drunken arguments around us, and by about 9pm I was ready for out. So I stumbled back to the hostel room, where one of the chics was having (loud) sex in the bathroom with the tourguide, while her 'we met while travelling so let's see where this goes' boyfriend was knocking on our door asking where she was. Awks.. 

Now, that the LAST day (the Sunday) would be the busiest day, so we were told - DON'T leave your tent unless you plan on leaving for good, or lining up for a while to get back in (once the tent is full, it's a 1-in, 1-out system). Surprisingly with minimal hangover, we headed down to the tents. Very much the same as the first day, but this time instead of taking a nap on my stein, I took a nap on the barrier between the tables and the walkway :P Still only 20 mins, and it perked me up for the rest of the day. By 8ish Allana and I were starving (and not willing to pay €20+ for a pork knuckle in the tent, so we escaped the tent to the carnival site, found some corn-on-the-cob, wandered to a restaurant for the best pork knuckle (for half the price), and stumbled back to the hostel.

All in all - the whole experience was amazing, but I wish I'd been more of a beer drinker at the time (I'm now converted) because the beer bloaty belly and carb overload wasnt fun by each evening. 

I somehow, managed a run on the Monday morning (literally 15 minutes in the freezing cold but better than nothing!), packed up, said goodbye to Lans, and headed to the Munich Central station to catch my 4/5hour bus to Prague. En route to see Shoogs, the Thirsty Swagman, and my 4 to 5* accommodation. 

✌

Stockholm Syndrome

A family friend (from Sweden) had been living in Perth for about 8 months before I moved to London. She - Natalie - is now living back in Sweden, and we swore that we'd meet up once I was in Europe. So in September, I flew out to Stockholm for a quick 2 night trip to see her, and explore another city.

My memory really is shot, because I honestly don't remember much of what we did. But I do remember landing, and Natalie the sweetheart, (who had flown in a few hours earlier) had killed time in the airport reading her book and waiting for me to land.

I've gotta say it was so handy having a Swedish speaker with me, because that language isn't one you can figure out by using similar words (like you can with spanish/french/italian). Ordering a salad was so confusing that I ended up asking Natalie to have most of my conversations for me. I don't have any crazy stories for this trip, so I'll jot out the memorable bits below:

- The old town (Gamla Stan) is BEAUTIFUL. We literally spent half a day wandering through the cobbled streets. Some of the alleyways are tiiiny.

- The view from the City-Hall is even more beautiful.

- Fika's are the best. Cinnamon buns and coffee - everyday - works for me!

- The people are some of the friendliest I've come across. Even with the language barrier, they were always smiling.

- No matter where you are in Europe/the world, you will ALWAYS find a Irish bar

- Our night-time activities always sounded like a bad joke. I.e. An Aussie and a Swede sitting in an Irish Bar (after eating Spanish tapas) trying to speak Creole.

- Swedish salads are amazing!

- I'm regretting that I never had Swedish meatballs - next time.

- I didn't actually see an IKEA

- H&M is Swedish?! And they're everywhere

- Shopping is actually amazing there. The shops are huge. I found myself with a new watch, and boots..

-Swedish cider is also delish - and sooo many different brands/flavours!! Move over Kopparberg & Rekorderlig!

- Running helps with travel-tiredness. I went for a little jog along the canal to stretch my legs, and came up with:

Rule #5 - Run wherever you can.

Lastly - Natalie is the sweetest girl :) I can't wait to plan another trip with her! 
✌

Eminem

When I moved over, I had a list of 3 artists that I would see if they ever came to the UK - rain, hail, or shine. Those were - Goo Goo Dolls, Ed Sheeran, and EMINEM. So it was a no-brainer when I saw that Eminem was performing at Slane Castle in Dublin (I know, not the UK - but close enough!)

I flew out on the Saturday morning and arrived in the Temple Bar area (at my hostel) at like midday. I couldn't check-in til 2, so went up to the common area and had a nap. Nek minnit - in walks Anna (a fellow Aussie, and now - new friend), and I discover she's just done the same trip (mind you, she did the bus/ferry/train/bus option - some 15 hours instead of the quick flight I'd done). She was also solo, so we teamed up (were actually in the same hostel room). We got ready, and jumped on one of the shuttle busses to Slane Castle - actually not all that close to Dublin). Were dropped off about 3km from the actual castle, walked through the mud (it was raining), bought our Poncho's, and took it all in. The site was incredible. Imagine a massive ampitheatre without the stairs, with a Castle at the bottom and a stage in front of the castle. We were all staggered up the hill, waiting..  Eminem came on at 9pm, and did about 2 hours of mash-ups from Slim Shady LP through to Relapse/Recovery. I hardly drank, but enjoyed every second if it. That man is a genius, and I'd have flown almost anywhere to see him. Definitely worth the trip, and definitely glad I ticked that one off the list.

The next day my flight was in the afternoon. Ciara (the Irish chic I met in Madrid earlier in the year) was visiting family about 1 hour out of Dublin - so she caught a train in and met me for coffee & cake. Such a gem for making the trip. 

A quick fly in & out visit to Dublin, to see my favourite white-boy.

✌

I got a job! And Round # 2 in Amsterdam

Back in London.

I must admit I was pretty bloody lucky with my start in London. When I'd been in Majorca, I had an email from the recruiter in London saying that Bloomberg had seen my CV, and wanted to interview me for a contract/temp position. So I landed back from Lisbon on a Saturday, spent the Sunday prepping, and had my interview first thing Monday morning. 

I had absolutely no idea what the role was, nor did I particularly understand it after having the interview. A mix of customer support / training, and technical troubleshooting. Not exactly where my experience lies. But hey, it's a job right? And let's be honest - it's Bloomberg - I'd have interviewed for anything if they'd asked. By Monday afternoon I'd had a call from the recruiter saying that they'd like to offer me the job. By Tuesday I had the contract, and was due to start the following Monday. That's how quickly it all happened for me. Like I said - LUCKY.

 I already had my 'last hurrah' trip to Amsterdam booked for that coming weekend, so it was pretty fitting that it would be my last weekend unemployed too. On the Friday, I flew out to Amsterdam to meet up with Caitlan and 2 of her friends, with plans to meet up with Hayley & Jeff the next day for our final night together before they flew home.

I don't remember too much significant happening in Amsterdam. A lot of drinking. A lot of walking into clouds of weed smoke. Nearly getting taken out by cyclists. The by far most exciting part - was something called the 'Magnum Experience' - a tip from Ciara that I'd met in Madrid - which was a pop-up store where you could... Wait for it... MAKE YOUR OWN MAGNUM ICECREAM. Hayley was in heaven, as the rest of us were. Hayls & I had our final night out on the Sat night - a very emotional one at that. I can't remember it ever being so hard to say goodbye to someone (aside from my family when leaving Aus) - I guess the drinks didn't make it easier, but we were both blubbering by the end.

The next day I was on my own, Hayls n Jeff had left, Caitlan and the others were packing to leave - so I figured I'd do something cultured and go on the Free Walking Tour of Amsterdam. Having done the cycling tour the year before, I thought I'd know everything.. I did NOT. The best part though, was meeting Brooke. Brooke was late 20's, from Bristol, England, and was in Amsterdam for the weekend for work. We were both on the tour solo, and hit it off straight away. By the end of the trip, we'd exchanged numbers, facebook friendships (I got her REAL account - not the fake one she gives to her clients ha), and vowed to organise a weekend that I could go across to Bristol for a weekend. 1 year later, I've been to Bristol - twice - and Brooke and I are now really good friends. It's actually the travel blog she started for her 3 month South America trip that inspired me to get mine back into gear. Cheers Brooke.

✌

Lisbon, the happy city.

Right, so over 1 year since my last post, and I've decided that I really do need to keep this writing thing going. But the idea of re-writing about things that happened a year ago is daunting. So I gave myself a deadline; that before I head to Dublin next weekend I need to write about the main places I've been over the last year and a half, and fill in the gaps later.

So - picking up where I left off - Lisbon, Portugal.

I don't know how to explain the difference between these two cities. Madrid felt dark and gothic, whereas Lisbon was so colourful, light, and the city itself felt so happy. Checking into my hostel (award winning - Travellers House). The guy at reception was by far the most passionate I've ever met. He was on the verge of tears when he sat down to go through the tourist map with me - because he was losing his voice and struggling to emphasise how beautiful or must-see some of the places were. My room was probably the nicest I'd had so far - complete with reading light, lock & safe under my bed, and no extra charge for towels - #winning.

I remember spending a day walking (well, I'd call it hiking!) through the cobbled streets of the castle district, in search of a viewpoint. The graffiti in this place was so different to what I'd seen elsewhere. Not just delinquents spraying 'John loves Stacey', or 'Jessie is a sl*t', but this was art. 

I can't exactly remember the order of things, but I met a few aussies and kiwis in the communal area, and the hostel activity on this first night was a walking tour to the castle district. What I hadn't realised when booking this trip to Lisbon, was that it was the Santo Antonio festival (the patron saint for Lisbon). Which means that the entire city turns into a party. All the people that live in the old city (castle area) open up their doors and terraces and blare their music, offering drinks and food out of their windows, pop-up bars and dj's everywhere. Every back alley and side street was filled with people. It was like being lost in a maze, but instead of trying to find your way out - all you wanted to do is get lost deeper and deeper. The best part - everyone was HAPPY. Our little crew was pumped, and the locals were in love with their city. I remember seeing this gorgeous older couple dancing in the middle of the street, in their own little world, and thinking that they reminded me of my parents.

One of the must-do's for Lisbon, was to taste a Pastel de nata - AKA a portugese custard tart. These aren't just any old tart, and I didn't want to try them at just any old place. I wanted the best. So I ran to the neighbouring town of 'Belem', where the cafe famous for it's award-winning Pastel de nata's was: Casa Pasteis De Belem. And Oh-my-god. For about €1 each (I bought 5), they were a-mazing. I guess this leads to -

Rule # 3rd: Eat local food.

Near the hostel is a seafront square/plaza rimmed with cafes, restaurants etc, and one of these was a wine exhibition offering free wine tastings every hour. So my new kiwi friend and I went along for one. The wine was amazing, and after the tastings we were invited by 2 US marines to share a bottle with them. So the four of us spent an hour or two, sitting inside this wine expo, getting p1ssed. One of the guys was super excited because he'd just found out his wife was pregnant - and they were on their way home soon;the other was married with kids (but a sleeze). We ended up out for dinner with them at a hostel-recommended restaurant, and all I can remember is that the food was delish, the wine was just as good, and the marines paid for our meals :D

I may as well throw another one in:

Rule # 4: Drink like a local

On my last night, it was the most surreal thing: just before 9pm, the hostel guy told us all to take a glass of our wine and head down the sea-front square. The city was going to perform for us. Not knowing what he meant, a few of us gathered down at the square and waited...Along with hundreds of other locals & tourists. I don't know how it was done, or what the meaning of it was - but the city played us music. What I mean is, that the church bells chimed while the ships at sea blew their horns and the nearby train whistled: all coordinated and beautiful. I have no idea where all the different sounds were coming from, or how it was all orchestrated... But in awe, we all fell silent to listen; this is my favourite memory of Lisbon.

✌

Watchmegetlost

Watch me get lost.

(Yes, I'm hopeless at updating this blog of mine - and having just counted that I have 7 more places I need to cover, I should probably get my growing-a*se into gear and type up some posts).

So. Madrid. First solo travel - and I got lost as soon as I left h&j in Barcelona. I should probably do a crash course in map-reading. So I managed to get on the train to Madrid from Barcelona in good time (winning!!), was sat next to these canadian (well, they say they were canadian, but they looked like Jersey-shore wannabes, and I'm sh1t with accents so if they were lying I wouldn't know). Managed to steal some pringles off the guy next to me - so that was another win :)

So I arrived, navigated my way to the hostel (after standing on the street outside the station for 10 mins with a map trying to get my bearings), checked in, unpacked (weird routine, but I need to organise everything in my locker before i feel settled ha), said hi to the people in my room, and headed to the common area to use the wifi. Met a brilliant Irish girl - Ciara - tall, uber skinny, extremely travelled (lived in Fremantle for a few years!) and really kind. We hit it off, and pretty much spent the rest of the time together. Went out for a feed (one of the perks of Madrid - most drinks come with free tapas :P) so every sangria for me (no where seems to sell cider!? or bubbly?!) meant a little plate of cheese or bread or sausages or omelette .. nom nom nom.

Madrid itself - wasn't my favourite. It's a very typical capital city where history meets commercial meets residential - it just didn't seem to blend nicely. I didn't get the culture-feel that I'd been told of.. and to be honest - aside from going out on a pub/club crawl (which I wanted to avoid on my first solo attempt) there really wasn't much to do. Ciara and I spent the next day basically walking around the city - and we managed to get to almost every 'main-attraction' on the hostel map. Yes, the church was beautiful, and the viewpoint we found was pretty cool, we found a pretty cool  market - my god, they love their food (as do i haha), i also found red wine for €1.30 haha (winning again!) but I just didn't get a great feel for the place. I did however get a hug from a giant Bart Simpson in the main square - but again - what does the Simpsons have to do with Madrid? Random...

I may have had a mini freak-out at one point - I went to the 'botanical gardens' for a run, and told Ciara I'd meet her at the lake in the middle of the gardens afterwards (gave her my bag to look after)... So I finish my run at the lake.... and can't find Ciara... Who has my phone, bag, money, ID.. all that jazz (yes, in hindsight - a bit stupid to leave a new friend with all my belongings) so I ran around the lake 4 times or so, trying not to panic, running through tourists and buskers, trying to spot a tall, skinny irish girl carrying 2 bags.. Nek minit - Ciara's popped out of nowhere and is running after me trying to get my attention haha.

PHEW.

Although Madrid wasn't my favourite of cities, the people I met were incredible and had amazing stories.. My last night there, a group of us were sat around in the common room.. One chick (Rosie, from England) has just finished this 800KM Camino trail over 2 weeks through Spain & Portugal (the blisters on her feet her insane), another chick was 20 years old, from Quebec - she had an Israeli dad and a Canadian mum, spoke french, english, hebrew (because of jewish background), arabic (her dad lived in egypt), and spanish (just finished a 6 month stint working at Club Med in spain) ..wtf? And Ciara - she's lived in like 4+ diff countries (including france and australia), worked in everything from candle-making (fremantle) to waitressing, to chef-ing (no qualification) at a surf yoga retreat in portugal..  And I thought it was cool to have Seychellois' parents, understand a bit of creole and move to london haha. I can't even remember the stories / backgrounds of the other people but it really blows me away how little I know about the world compared to others. That night the group spent about an hour explaining the difference between Christianity and Judaism (don't ask me now - I've forgotten) and then how Muslim/Islam etc all works. I felt was the most naive / uneducated person there - but no one made me feel like i was stupid when I asked 'so islam is the religion and muslim is the person, right?' for the millionth time. Even though it all went in one ear and out the other, it just made me realise that people don't really care where you're from, what you know, who you were back home - if you ask, you can learn so much - and people love telling their stories :)

The 2 days in Madrid was enough for me I think. Maybe if I'd gone out on the pub crawls I would have seen more of the night life & culture. All in all, a great first stop on my own - spent more time getting to know the people than the place - but that's half the point right?

Next stop... Lisbon!!✌

Return to Barcelona

Back to my faaaavourite place from last year's trip. Where I met the most amazing people and have some of the best memories. Barcelona.

We checked into our hostel (Sant Jordi Mambo Tango). Tried to find a bloody massage place (unsuccessful) but we were warned that any 'massage' in that area would most likely be a different kind of 'massage'. We ended up wandering down to La Ramblas, thru the food market (of course I bought a tonne of chocolate and some dried figs ha), drank sangria (which I thought I hated from last year but now really like!), ate (cant remember what - paella perhaps?) and made our way up to Magic Fountain.

That 100ish yr old dancing water fountain still blows me away. There's 3 different 'sets' that it shows.. One is classical music, one is movie themes (what we saw in the pouring rain last year) and lastly pop songs - which is what we saw this time. And wow let's say I've never really caught myself bopping along to "call me maybe" but this bloody fountain seems to be magic in more ways than one.. It was more beautiful this time round because it wasnt bucketing down with rain - and even Jeff admitted that it's pretty beautiful.

We left happy (and wet from the splashing water) to head back to the hostel - to realise that at some point during my new found love for sangria and carly ray jepsen, I'd been pickpocketed.. :( waaaaah. Luckily they'd only managed to swipe my sunglass case (prescription sunnies included) so it was more of an inconvenience than anything because it meant that in the next 7days of beautiful sunny places - I couldn't really see sh*t. Had to buy a new €10 pair of sunnies that just made my eyesight worse.  Anyway, lesson learnt. And it could have been my purse or phone..  

Jeff was pretty stoked with the €1.50 beers so he went back out to the pub later that night, bumped into our Canadian-irish roommate and shouted him beers all night ha.  

We did the cycle tour the next day (me being sure to stay up-front with the guide so that I couldn't lose the group haha). We rode past a motorbike accident where the bike was completely mangled and the girl was laying on the floor with people surrounding her calling the ambulance and fanning her down. She luckily didn't seem too hurt but geez now I'm starting to realise why Papa's always said that we're not getting our motorbike licences - the person on the bike (and the bike) never come out of an accident very well.  

Next stop - Parc Guell (Gaudi park) afterwards and good god there were a tonne of stairs. Gaudi must've been a bloody machine while he designed that park if he had to go up n down a zillion Jacobs ladder style stairs every day. I understand why everyone said I had to do the park this time round - its really bizzarly designed but in a weird willy wonka kinda way.  One of the houses could have easily been the witch's house from Hansel & Gretel..  The view over Barcelona from the park was pretty beautiful too so at least I satisfied my "get to a high point for a good view" need. I think this might have to be a new rule.

Rule # 2 - Where possible - get to a high point for the best view.

Trying to remember now what else we did in Barcelona is proving a bit difficult but I think we pretty much walked around, ate & drank.

Breakfast the day that I flew out down on the beach @ Barcelonetta was good, before I said goodbye to h&j to trekk it back to the hostel (getting lost STRAIGHT AWAY walking the wrong direction ending up on the wrong side of the port - hopeless) then to get the 3.5hour train to Madrid. My first solo venture and I get lost in the first 10 mins. Not looking very hopeful for me ha but I have to admit, my map reading skills are improving...

✌

Olaaaa

I never understood people that shake their computers or throw their phones in a fit of rage when theyre not doing what theyre supposed to do... But now I do. I had drafted 3 masssiiiiivvveee posts on my phone during the last 3 weeks while in airports or on buses or trains, with the intention of posting them up when I got wifi. But unfortunately my 'Blogger' app wasn't up to date on my Galaxy.... so none of the posts saved properly. And I can't open them... So now I have to start from scratch and cover my first week in London, and my trips to Majorca, Madrid, Barcelona & Lisbon.

Ive already forgotten a lot..

My first week in London... I had my Britbound appointment to meet a few other new expats, get my national insurance number sorted, get some info on life in London and what to expect  etc etc. Got my (empty) bank account up & running.. Registered with a few recruitment agencies and introduced myself to a few contacts from back home. Walked all over the place, got lost a little bit (in a good way), joined 2 free running/fitness groups (free bootcamp on Saturdays & Sundays...wtf?!) so met a few coolkids through that. Basically a full week of running around to different appointments and applying for every job possible. Not sure if I´ve mentioned, but Im living like 200m from Brick Lane.. so Ive promised myself that as soon as I get a job I´m gonna be going out for dinner there to celebrate... nom nom nom. Hayls & Jeff flew in on Wednesday so we had drinks & dinner most nights, went to London zoo on the Friday (20x better than Perth Zoo might I add..), bootcamp on Saturday morning, then packed and headed back out to Gatwick to fly out to my first stop ( Majorca ) with Hayley n Jeff...

First mission..

We land in Majorca at about 9pm and go pick up our hire car.. We were staying in this place called Cala Pi (rough translation - woop woop) so had a 30km (ish) drive from Palma to our hotel. Of the 3 of us, Im the one with the international drivers licence. Which meant I was the one responsible for getting us from Palma to Cala Pi, in the dark, driving on the wrong side of the road, in a manual (which means gear changes with my right hand), with no real map & no street lights... alive. You dont really realise how fast 100km is when youre basically learning to drive all over again. But with a few casual drifts onto the right side of the road, and some confusing roundabout incidents, and me completely mixing up my lefts & rights, we made it there. But if I hadn´t remembered the tip 'righty tighty lefty loosey' for turning corners, we might not have made it haha. Cudos to me.

Our hotel wasnt bad at all.. We had a 2 bedroom apartment on the 2nd (top) floor so we had a rooftop terrace and a bit of a view. There was a beautiful little cove beach behind the hotel that was pretty much the hotels private beach. A big old lighthouse on the coast on a cliff that dropped down to the ocean. The views were beautiful.

Trying to find things to do around our area was a bit of a struggle.. We were about 40mins from palma town (we went into town twice but once being the Sunday and everything was closed). Me being a bit of an alcoholic noticed a vineyard on the way back from Palma & it got me thinking about wine, so I looked up a winetour company and we did a gourmet tour. For €45 we got picked up and dropped off (45mins each way!) and toured 3 wineries (including t he oldest one in Majorca) and we actually got to tour through the operational side where the grapes are cleaned and the wine's aged and bottled and all that jazz.. A lot more informative than what you get back home. (did you know that the only red wine is red is because they leave the skin on?? So you can actually make white wine from red grapes).  the wines were pretty much all amazing, the food was yuuuuum and wow ive never seen so many bottles of wine in my life. Our driver was incredibly helpful and gave us advice on the very few places we could eat around Cala Pi (my god, the grilled fish we had on our last night at his recommended restaurant was delish !!)

The whole time we were there I'd wanted to go hiking. I'd heard that the mountains of Majorca are brilliant for hiking especially as some of them are coastal so the views would be pretty special. But unfortunately we were staying south east of palma at the bottom of the island....and the mountains were up in the north. So to save myself getting lost driving the 2 or 3 hours out to the mountains and then most likely getting lost in the wilderness, I dragged Hayley & Jeff along on a coasteering excursion :) for €55 we got picked up & dropped off (almost 2 hours each way!) and went out cliff jumping, climbing,  swimming, abseiling & caving. Definitely worth it! The coast is beauuuuutiful and the green glow of the ocean in the underwater caves made me wish I had a waterproof camera. It was so surreal. The cliff jumping sent my legs to jelly and my heart to my throat but well it was pretty cool!  

Aside from the wine tour and the coasteering we literally spent the week eating, drinking, relaxing, & tanning (my mid-stomach tan line from highwaisted bikini is back in action).   We got a tad lost on the way back to the airport and did about 5 u-turns before we found the right turn off for our car return place. Finally made it to the airport.. Next stop - Barcelonaaaaaa :D

✌

The Wedding(s)

Wales..

Not the big ones in the sea that blow air through their spouts, but the mountainous country to the west of England.

I'd been warned about the weather (typically freezing, and raining all year round) and the different laid back "country" way of life (so don't to expect any kind of hustle & bustle).

So after an amazing nights sleep in London on Monday night, I jumped on a 10am train on Tuesday to Bath. Sharon was picking me.up from there at about 3pm to then drive over to Aberystwyth (Wales). I was lucky enough to miss the rain on the way to the tube, but it pretty much poured the whole train ride to Bath, and my 2.5 hours of being a tourist (with no brolly) was spent taking cover in shops. First stop - Sally Lunn's tea shop..apparently where this lady a few hundred years ago would bake these amazing sweet n savoury buns with her secret recipe, and her buns are now famous in Bath called "Sally Lunn's Buns". I didn't have a bun (feeling crook after flying as I always do) but the cappuccino was pretty good. I tried to kill as much time as possible sitting in the little teashop (avoiding the rain) but given that the place is famous and only had about 8 tables I was "stared down" pretty quickly so I left.

Next stop was supposed to be the roman baths but the queue was about 30mins long and out in the pissing rain so I took a photo of the front and kept going. I eventually bought the cheapest brolly I could find (£5 and leopard print of course), wandered around a bit before taking shelter in a pub, ordering a local cider (not bad!), called Francois to complain a bit about the cold, and waited for Sharon..

The drive from Bath to Aberystwyth was about 4.5 hours with shit traffic and a lotttt of rain. Funnily enough you have to pay a toll to get over the bridge into Wales, but no toll on the way out (btw, is WA the only place that doesnt have these stupid road tolls?).

So we got to Borth (north of Aberystwyth) to our little chalet in northfield holiday park at about 8pm, saw Maman & Papa for the first time in about 5 weeks (and true to form, the first thing maman says after I put my bags down was would I like a rum & coke. Yes, yes I would haha) we had some curry, caught up with the parents and my aunty n uncle, & went to sleep with the heater on its highest setting.

Wake up Wednesday morning (the morning of the first wedding) and I swear it was a different place. Sun shining, the greenest most beautiful view from our cabin overlooking the coastline, still a bit fresh but not freezing. I went for a run, & took a few pics (wishing a certain someone spesh was there to share the view) & I couldn't believe it. Wales didn't look the same.

Rachy & Ben's official ceremony wasnt til Saturday, but because of their humanist/pagan style wedding, its not recognised as a legal marriage so they had to have a civil service @ the registry office too. So on Wednesday Rach got ready in her parents chalet (the one next to ours), Amy and I did her hair (yes, I was half responsible for doing something girly haha, and yes - it actually looked great!!). So we headed down to the registry office, rach looking amazing in a floral dress, had a beautiful service (including a reading by Sharon about 2 dinosaurs that fall in love), and I must admit, considering it wasn't their big ceremony - it was pretty emosh !

Anyway we had drinks (and this amazing pimms punch) & nibbles @ Ben's parents place before a big feed at the local pub/restaurant "the black lion" with their closer friends n family. And wow, ben & rach have some brilliant friends. Especially given the next 2 days....

Its crazy really. The big wedding was held on their friends Rodrig (wrong spelling but im hopeless) and Sarah's organic farm out in basically the middle of nowhere. Thursday morning, the field was empty and there was cow & sheep shit everywhere.. but wow did everyone pull together. The first marqee went up, then the 2nd (the 2nd being hired from a circus company so it was covered in trees). The boys spent the whole day  thursday shovelling shit so that the guests wouldn't be walking through it and so that they could park in the big sheds. They've set up all these hay bails for ppl to sit on during the service. All the decorations / flower arrangements / banting was made by friends n family. Friday was just a massive day of setting up EVERYTHING. But wow it all came.together. from an empty farm on thursday to possibly the most beautiful and unique wedding setup by friday night. Ben & Rach even had this Mongolian "teepee" set up next to the marquees where they would camp for their first night as a married couple.

Friday came and the ceremony / reception was just magical. The ceremony was in the "circus" tent, the brides maids and bride were driven down on the back of a tractor,  the celebrant was hilarious and laid back, bens brother in law played the piano while we all attempted to sing this welsh anthem (in welsh), my (rather emotional) reading of a creole translation of an albert eistein quote was what "sealed" their marriage, Ben's mum sang this incredible opera song, and true to ben & rachs style, their final wedding song before the end of the service was the little mermaids "under the sea"..

The reception (if possible) was even more beautiful. Keeping in mind since wednesday there hadnt been any rain or cloud, pure sunshine (which is unheard of in wales) the big white marquee was nice and warm inside, and wow it looked unrecognisable from when it first went up. The first meal was all from an organic catering company, there was a home brew competition going on throughout the night, the lamb for the 2nd meal was incredible (and again, organic), & the wine was yummy. The speeches were so emotional. Ben is clearly completely smitten with rach and theyre both overwhelmed by all the hard work that went into getting the place all set up in less than 2 days. The best men (all 4 groomsmen because ben couldnt pick just one best man haha) did the most hilarious speech. They had us all singing the chorus of " all you need is love" while they sang their own personalised verses. There was a giant badger, an unexpected trumpet player, a bit of acting, loads of props (including a comparison of "real time" and "ben&rachel time", and a foam helmet for ben so he'll stop maiming himself). The dj was awesome & the dessert even better haham Ive never been to or even seen on tv anything like it. The night was really just beautiful.

Leaving Wales now and heading back to reality (london town) it all feels a bit surreal like it was all a whirlwind and Its over now..but wow, if im lucky enough to have a wedding half as incredible as ben n rachs (I know - a boyfriend would be a nice start haha) then I'll be over the moon, just like they are.

✌

I'm here.

So, after 2 weeks of catchups, 2 going-away do's, 2 fun runs, 2 days of packing, 2 extra emotional goodbyes (phonecall & airport), 2 cabin luggage backpacks (that went unnoticed .. thank god), & 2 uncomfortable flights.. I'm here.

After a late night on Sat, a 6am wakeup Sunday, the hbf run, a day of drinking (the pb&j jelly shots were a winner), my 10.30pm "I'll get some sleep" flight from Perth to Dubai didn't pan out as planned. I was lucky enough to be sat a few rows behind a mostly-screaming baby, in an aisle seat, next to a rude irish bloke with some serious bladder issues. The 6th time I had to fold up my tray (this time half way through my breakfast may I add) and get up to let him out (with no pleases or thankyous) was a bit of a joke. Anyyyyway.

Dubai airport - Maman wasn't lying.  She warned it takes forever to make your way from where you land to where you need to be. I thought I was lucky as I landed in terminal 3, and was departing terminal 3... sinch? No.. just to get to gate B meant 1 elevator, 1 train, 2 escalators and about 25mins of walking (maybe longer considering I stopped for some choccies from the "sweets factory"). not to mention that gate B has like 35 gates in it... It's definitely a bit bigger than Perth airport ha.

Dubai to London - a better flight - was sat next to a lovely old pommy bloke (with bad breath), that spent the first hourish convincing me I need to be a chelsea supporter.. but still no sleep. The Baileys made it a little easier. Touchdown in London & surprisingly I'm not as cold as I thought (15degrees... it's their 'summer' ). Dave's cousin Rob was there to meet me when I landed at Gatwick, and about an hour later we got back to his apartment. Its a great place about the same size as my place, in pretty much central London.

I've bought my Oyster card (feeling more like a Londoner already) and my UK simcard. I took less than half an hour to unpack all my clothes, and 17 pairs of shoes. No, that's not a typo.. somehow, I managed to pack 17 pairs of shoes.. W.T.F..??

Rob & I went for a good 5ish hour walk around his end of London / past St Pauls / tower bridge/ down the river / through some cool markets / 2 pubs (bulmers pints for £4...!) / had dinner / and now its 8.50pm (2.50am perth time), im showered and having a glass of red wine (hopefully get to sleep shortly) after almost 30 hours of no sleep, I'm poooooped.

So that pretty much sums up my first day here. Tomorrow I'm off to Bath Spa to meet Sharon for our drive out to Wales. I should probably check the train times..

Night night

Xo

✌

Why?

Honestly? Because I'm lazy.

& my memory is shot-to-sh*t.

My 2012 Europe trip taught me this.

I struggled to sit down and put together emails to tell family & friends I was alive, where I'd been, what I'd been doing, etc. Not because I was too busy, or would've rathered use my time for more exciting things, but because I really just couldn't be arsed.. The last 2 ½ weeks of my trip was made up of countless driving hours on the Topdeck bus.. But did I use that time to type about my adventures? Of course not. I used it to sleep, stare out the window, watch movies, eat pringles & toblerone... I saved the typing of emails for when we were frantic and on a time limit, so that I could send the quick "Just got to *insertcityname* , I'm alive, WiFi is sh*t, running late for our walking tour, will email soon".

  

Then what happened? When I finally decided "shit I better email Maman & tell her I've not been sold for my organs in Albania", do you think I could remember what I did 3 days before? Or where I had even been? Of course not. The email that would've taken me a whole 5 mins (if I'd I typed it as I left each city), ended up taking an hour to put together - with a lot of "improvisations" (I remember emailing about our sailing trip, having absolutely no idea where we'd been, googling a map of Greece and naming a few random towns instead). And it only gets worse. People ask me now what I did in Dubrovnik? I remember being hungover on a boat ride from hell. That's pretty much it. Hindsight's a b*tch, because I now wish I'd kept a journal of some-sort (dot-points on a notepad even) - but I didn't, and I can't remember many specifics of my trip at all.

  

So this is my lazy solution. I'll post as much as I can (be bothered) on this blog. So that rather than having to come up with excuses for why I haven't emailed the people I'd promised I'd email, or clogging your newsfeed on facebook with pictures of a mountain range and the caption "my view from Mount Kosciuszko"..

This'll be your one-stop-shop for all things Joelle.

 ✌