Italy

In September 2007, Aidan and I spent ten nights on a highly anticipated trip to Italy. We had a good time, but the high expectations we had were not really met.

For some strange reason, of all the places i have gone that should have been full of tourists, Paris, New york, the Greek Islands,...Italy was by far the most touristy, and it definitely detracted from the appeal of the place. The least touristy part by far was Ischia, where the only tourists were German, who were markedly less obvious and and much quieter than the American tourists that we found in Rome and the Amalfi coast. Our trip was at the end of September, so I can only imagine what it was like in the height of summer.

So one of the major problems was the amount of tourists...a problem to which we were obviously contributing though.... The other thing about Italy we were a bit disappointed in was the food. After savouring many beautiful meals from our friend Andrea, the Italian chef, we imagined Italy to be Andrea's cooking all meals every day. Not so, it was greatly disappointing, and as horrible as it sounds, I am pretty sure the food in Wollongong and Canberra is just as good! We had some good meals in Italy, but nothing blew my mind...

Anyway, we spent the first two nights in Rome, then four nights in Sorrento, three nights in Ischia, and a final night in Rome again, before flying home.

Rome was lovely and hot when we arrived! my favourite kind of weather! We saw all the typical sites, including the Vatican Museum, where I surprised myself by staying in line for 40 minutes to be let in. I didn't think I had it in me. I wonder a bit how certain pieces of art become so famous compared to others. E.g. the Mona Lisa is a bit of a mystery, and in the Vatican I was surprised that the part of Genesis on the roof in the Sistine Chapel with the finger of God was so famous above everything else in there. Because while it was awesome, there was so much awesome stuff in that museum altogether.

I liked the square out the front of St Peters Basilica, which is surrounded by three lots of columns/pillars, and if you stand in two certain places in the square, all the columns become eclipsed...like, you can only see the front row, because they are perfectly in line. Anyway, I thought that was cool.

I also was looking forward a lot to the Trevi Fountain, and it was amazingly beautiful, but also packed. And what is with these gypsies selling those noise-makers everywhere in Italy? It is supposed to be romantic! Looking at the Trevi Fountain, I wonder why these days amazingly intricate landmarks like these are no longer created. Everything is chic, and smooth lines, and super giant or super small, but not just being made for beauty like that was.

After Rome we headed for Sorrento, which was disappointing and so I won't say too much about it! The highlight was hiring a scooter on the Amalfi coast, and riding that amazing coastline, although not the bit where Aidan ran the scooter into the side of teh cliff (better than off the other side I suppose). Obviously there were no major injuries! The towns along the coast were pretty from afar, to look at them spill down the mountain side, but inside they were crowded and a bit grotty. The beaches were almost non-existent, and while the water looked nice and clear, I didn't want to lie on thepebbles/dirt/broken bits of concrete that passed for sand, and I most certainly didn't want to have to pay for the privelege! the prettiest town there is Ravella, which is set high up in the hills, and is less busy, and overlooks the ocean and terraces of agriculture.

The next place we went was the most beautiful. Ischia, an island off Naples which is generally snubbed in favour of Capri (all those tourists? no thanks!), is quiet, and favoured by German tourists (I got to use my german, hooray!). It is famous for its numerous hot springs all around the island. We spent a whole day at these things called the Poseidan spa's. this was a sprawling resort kind of thing which was all pools, and landscaped gardens and beach front property! The pools were thermal and ranged from 15-40 degree's celcius. I don't think I went in one under 30! My dream.

The other good thing about Ischia is that it was probably the best accommodation I have ever had anywhere. It was beautifully decorated and centrally located in a cute little village called Forio (I think that was it...). It was a B&B, and the lady was so lovely, and her house was so beautiful. She served us our breakfast outdoors in a beautiful setting and spoke to me in a broken combination of german and English.

While I anticipated trouble from pick pockets while in Italy, or the amputation of my ring finger, we had no trouble at all. Like my experience in Paris and the watched pot that never boils, it seems the more you look out for gypsies, the less you will see. It seems that my Tiffany ring has the effect of looking so misplaced on me that it looks like Accessorize costume jewellery that I might have picked up for £7.99 on Oxford Street.

Anyway, this is the end of my European travels for a little while, next stop Asia...I move to Shanghai next Saturday, 27th October 2007!

T

Portugal

It was recently the bank holiday weekend, and, like last year, I forgot that I should stay in London for the Notting Hill Carnival! I am so upset that I missed it for my second year running, and when am I going to be in London for it ever again? So stupid. Instead, I did something else very British…I went to the Algarve. This is an area on the south coast of Portugal, where lots of British tourists, and tourists from all over Europe, go for their holidays.

It was just a three day beach break for us, we didn't want anything too strenuous, just relaxing.
However, after three months of Crappo weather in London, which they call a summer, we left London on the nicest morning I have seen here, warm and blue skied. We arrived in Portugal to freezing rain. Fury. Luckily, the weather cleared up that afternoon, but it was a very bad couple of hours for me psychologically

I was a tiny bit worried about the area we were going to, the Algarve, as I had heard from some that it was very very cringe-worthy. The area we stayed was just like a British gold coast, or like if they picked up any English seaside town and put it on a decent beach with nice weather. Which is fine, but, without sounding mean, I don't like British food (or modern culture) at the best of times, and I was quite looking forward to some Vascos/Oporto/Nando's style Portuguese food…however, while there were Chinese restaurants, Indian, a Haagen Dazs restaurant and even an O'Neills, the Portuguese food was nowhere to be found. We finally settled on a restaurant that served mostly western things (Steak Dianne? Hamburger?), but pointed at this other table that looked like they were Portuguese people, and they were having this thing that looked like soupy Paella, with prawns and clams and fish all through it. Turns out that on the menu it was just called 'monk fish', which made me think there was a translation problem, and I didn't want anything called monkfish (which made me think of the Simpson's three eyed fish), but after pointing at the other table a couple more times, we thought they must know what we meant…and yes, it was the yummy soupy Paella.

That first day, the British tourist overload day, was in the Marina. Now, apart from being a lot more expensive obviously, I am beginning to suspect that 'Marina', is just the aquatic version of 'caravan park'…because apart from the bling on these people, they really looked like they were from the trailer park…oooh, is that horribly classist and mean?! I have done my time in caravan parks on holidays, I am not being a snob! I am just saying…Oh yeah, the other thing that the marina seemed to be full of was pubs with large red Englishmen watching soccer games…had to get away from the Marina...

Anyway, we should have known that the Marina would have been the refuge of the tourists, so the next day, we thought we would try something else, and walked down the beach for a while, past the shanty town/caravans, and ended up in the Quarteira, which had fish markets, no sun beds on the beach, and lots of Portuguese restaurants to choose from. We ate a couple of times at this one restaurant that was right over the sand, and which served the most amazing garlic and lemon prawns I have ever had. They were all in their shells still, so I made quite the mess, so much so that the waiter came to me with more napkins three times. I had them for entrée, and loved them so much I was going to have them for dessert too, but for some surprising reason could not fit in prawns+huge steak+potatoes and then more prawns for dessert. Very disappointed in myself.

Before I got there, I was also quite worried about my hotel. I had booked what I thought was a nice four star hotel, for our special weekend away, but then I read some online reviews and they were all terrible! However, it turns out that while it wasn't the Four Seasons, it had a pleasant 70's Dallas style feel about it, with massive rooms, two double beds, a balcony with table and chairs, huge breakfast buffet including chocolate cake, on the beach, beautiful gardens and pool…really I don't know what the complaints were about, they should really have been complaining about other things I think!

So anyway, would highly recommend Portugal, for weather, beach and food…however, would try and avoid the British tourist favourites. They don't like to leave England behind when they are on holiday, but if you, like me, desperately do, then find out where they like to go, and avoid avoid avoid (the bonus with this, is it will probably also be a lot cheaper).

Next trip....Italy....hooraaaaaayyy...

San Sebastian

On the first weekend of August, Sue-Ellen and I went on a four day break to San Sebastian in Spain. I highly recommend this place, and it goes straight to my top five destinations.
Sue and I meant to go last year, but didn't due to debacles with numerous nay-sayers, so it was good to see that after we made the effort, it was definitely worth it. For those of you who would like to go there, I will give you very easy instructions, because I really think you should all go…
Get a flight to Bilbao. Get a bus from Bilbao airport to Termibus (the main bus station), this will cost only 1.25 Euros. Then get one of the hourly buses to San Sebastian, for about 8 Euros. From my front door in Ridge Hill, to our hostel in San Sebastian, only 7.5 hours. Which includes sitting around in the airport, and all transfers. I think that is fantastic. Let me just say that sue-Ellen and I handled this so well, that we are well on our way to filling out our Amazing Race application forms. (Although I worry that we aren't competitive enough, and are quite lazy, we are convinced that it would be fine, as we have natural skills and luck, which could have us sitting in café's drinking hot chocolate, napping mid day, and still scamming our way to the front. It has been proven before, in Oslo, in San Sebastian. We really are amazing.)
The flights weren't even their usual nightmare, even though we thought they might be, as there was a team of English, rough looking sportsmen in front of us all wearing matching sports jerseys, with T.O.W. printed on the back. Now, before reading on, try and think what sport this might be…Tug-Of-War. Seriously. And they were on their way to some kind of international competition…?
Our hostel was fantastic. With views looking over the beach, big bright windows, tv, three seater couch, big double bed (accident, hostel owner thought we were lesbians), super clean bathrooms and kitchen, and not noisy or anything from the other occupants. In fact, we saw other people in there only twice. The location was also fantastic. Away from the touristy 'old town' and 'swimming' beaches, and instead downtown near the surf beaches. Also conveniently located near a delicious bakery from where we bought our breakfast. It is called Surf Zurriola, if anyone ever wants to stay there, and is around £20 per person per night.
As well as thinking we were lesbians, the hostel owner also thought we were lying when we said we were Australian. As he said, we were 'too dark'. He kept going on about it, so I told him I was Chinese, but Sue-Ellen clung stubbornly to her story, even when he questionned her persistently. (meanwhile, to continue racist theme, small boys yelled out Konichiwa to me on the street! ).
After getting changed into our swimmers, we were straight off to the beach…actually I think that is a lie. I was starving, so it was straight to Tapas down the road, then to the beach. It took us a little minute to understand the etiquette of the tapas, but we were well adjusted after only one meal. We just pick whatever we like, take, it, and somehow, the bartenders remember, and tot it all up at the end. Tortilla, smoked salmon thingy's, meatballs, clams, skewers, prawn things, croquettes…somehow, they manage to make every single thing delicious…except for on Sue's plate, this thing that she described as a 'fish tart'…which really doesn't sound nice…also, they are very good at ice cream making, I of course restrict myself to chocolate, while Sue-Ellen became addicted to pina colada icecream..

Then after tapas, straight to the beach, to lie down, and accumulate a tan which has had NO help all summer, thanks to stupid crap British 'summer'. Lots of topless women, so I thought I would go topless too…kidding! Also, one or two totally naked men. Brown and leathery all over.
Then after the beach, you go home and have a siesta, go out for tapas again in the evening…and then repeat every day! With shopping for a little minute in between. Also, as with all holidays, it is tradition to watch lots of CNN news whenever you are in your room, and we supplemented this with eating lots of cheese and crackers...then fell asleep in sauna like room, which made us wake up feeling quite ill...

On one of the nights, we went out for super expensive cocktails in this fancy hotel called the Maria Cristina, and I got to wear my Alannah Hill dress for the very first time. Unaccustomed to wearing feminina dresses, I felt like a bit of a freakshow for a little while, but it only took half a cocktail, and I was quite comfortable...

On the last day it poured down with rain, making it not too horrific to head off home…which is kind of nice. The return trip was even more of an amazing race effort. Sue-Ellen spotting typical English couple in the airport, deduced they were annoying airport staff to determine which desk would be the check in counter, before they even announced it. so we lined up behind them obviously. One highlight, was that as per usual on a 'grab your own seats flight', people children mill around the front of the queue, not even bothering to line up, because they assume they will get on first with their kids. AHAHAHA fantastic spanish airport personnel were not having a bar of it, and so all the people with kids who hadn't deigned to line up had to go RIGHT TO THE END ahahahaha. Is that evil of me? Well Sue and I got much happiness from that.
Highlight of return trip, was only the game we made up in which we tried to not let anyone sit next to us on the plane (Easy-Jet, get your own seats). I adorned several persona, including raucous 'Girls Aloud'; sickly, coughing puffer-user; sufferer of some disgusting foot disease (excellent in the wake of new foot- and-mouth scandal), and for those parents who might consider placing their child with us, affectionate lesbian.

You know what this is!!!

Ignore how wrinkly my hands look.... and imagine it all sparkly, for some reason, the sparkliness doesn't translate through photo's.

New York

Over the Easter Break, Aidan and I went on a five night trip to New York City . We were very excited, as neither of us had been before, and we anticipated great shopping, food, and lots of famous sights.

All present and accounted for, but what we didn’t expect was freezing cold weather, icy winds and snow on Easter Sunday. Never mind, it just has taught me that next time I go, I will go when it is warmer (I advise you to do the same, unless you want to be stuck inside in the shops all the time!).

On the first day, we arrived in from London at about midday, and then thought we would get a bite to eat, followed by some shopping. Now, I hate cosmetic departments at the best of times (they may as well be screaming out to you that you are all ugly and not good enough and no one will ever love you etc.), but I was outright offended at the amount of makeup some woman forced on me. (I did not volunteer, she forced me into the chair, and when I said I didn’t wear much makeup, she said she would just show me ‘this one thing’). Half an hour later she was writing out a list a mile long of all the stuff she had slapped on me…the only reason I stuck around so long was because she was like a caricature of an American woman…highly entertaining. (I tried to explain to her repeatedly that I had just come on a crack-of-dawn flight from London and that I wasn't normally so hideous looking, but apparently this is no excuse).

The other ‘American caricature’ type highlight of that day was our lunch. I just wanted a ham and cheese sandwich, and I seriously probably got a whole pigs leg. Such massive portions. I am not going to say that is why they are so fat. Because from my experience, Americans don’t seem too much fatter than Australians or English people, but you can’t tell from cities, you always have to go out to suburbia or further, before you get to see the real…ok, I am going to stop now before I get in trouble. But all throughout our trip, the portions were huge, and everything came with a choice of multiple ‘sides’. I quite like the ‘macaroni and cheese’, which comes as a side everywhere, but it seems like it could kill you without too much effort. Delicious though.

To continue on the theme of food, we also checked out the new food hall in Central train station. It showcases a couple of local restaurants by having ‘kiosk’ stalls there. So there is a great variety of food to choose from, not too dear, and not deathly busy. Highly recommended. I got something from some kind of 'Southern' resaurant, called Cousin Jimmy's or something. And I got a side of macaroni cheese. The meal was delicious, but so massive that I took the left overs back to the hotel room for breakfast.

The worst food I had was when I was trying to be cool and told Aidan we should go to this Peruvian restaurant. On the menu, I ordered “Prawns, calamari, Octopus and fish in lemon”…which sounds like a delicious mixed grill or something, right? No. So so wrong. First it was cold. Yuck. Cold wet seafood can make your brain believe you just might be eating cold raw seafood. and not in a nice sushi/sashimi colourful presentation way, but in a wet grey lumped together way. Nightmare of nightmares, it wasn’t a grill at all…it was a SALAD – my arch nemesis of all foods. Not only was it cold seafood in salad form, but it was excessively garnished with two of my most hated flavours – chilli and coriander. Really, it was the nightmare of my life. Bizarrely, Aidan, who is way fussier than me, loved it. I gave it to him, and on the way back to the hotel grabbed some BBQ chicken with macaroni and cheese ‘side’, and sat watching Idol eating it. Surely that is partaking in American culture.

But that was the only bad experience of food, the rest of the food was beautiful, and we went to some quite nice and funky restaurants. However, I must say, that everyone told me food was cheap there, but once you add tax and tips, well it is like a horrible little surprise at the end of every meal.

As it was so cold, we didn’t spend as much time outside as I would have liked, but we did explore Central Park on the one nice warm morning we had, and we walked a lot rather than take the subway (the Tube is so much better, and less scary). I did not get in any Taxi/cabs. We spent a lot of time in shops, but I didn’t buy any clothes or shoes, although Aidan bought quite a bit.

We went on a boat ride around Manhattan (circle line cruises – highly recommended by me, super informative, and the man on the loudspeaker tells people to sit down if they get up and stand in your view), the top of the Rockefeller Centre (so we could have a view of the city AND the Empire state building), Ground Zero (not too much to see there, but what they are planning looks amazing), and all the department stores and shops you hear about (Macy’s, Saks, Bloomingdales). I tried to go and get those Sex and the City cupcakes, but there was a big fat line, and even I don’t need cake that much. (well, I probably do, but I don't need THAT specific cake that much).

As we went at Easter, we were around for the famous ‘Easter Parade’ on Fifth Avenue . Where they cordon off a couple of blocks along that street, and people wander around wearing Easter hats they have made. It was something I have heard of forever, thanks to George and his musicals, and so I was very excited. There weren’t that many people partaking, but those that did put a massive amount of effort into the things. There was also some singing and dancing type things going on, but not very Easter-y (break dancing and calypso music…I like it, but it isn’t Easter related).

Then, as you probably all know by now…as we walked past Tiffany’s Aidan told me that he wanted to buy me some jewellery, because he never has. I told him that he knows I don’t wear jewellery, but we went in and wandered around, and found ourselves on the second floor with all the rings, and so we got engaged and looked at Engagement rings. (not really that spur of the moment, we had talked about it before).

So there you go. That is some pretty big news I suppose. However, after trying on all different types of rings, picking one, counselling ourselves over two days on whether or not it was worth the price, we finally put our bank cards down on the counter to buy my ring…and found out that Tiffany’s doesn’t accept debit cards, only credit cards…boo! So no ring yet. The same ring in the UK Tiffany's is much more expensive, and no way would we get that one. More than a third of the price more! And we coudl get it made elsewhere, but then for the rest of my life I would be looking at it thinking 'This is such a nice copy of the ring I really wanted'. Now, I know everyone thinks I am very spoiled, but I'm not, despite the next sentence: Aidan has flown back to NYC this weekend to get me the Tiffany's ring. I am not spoilt! He had to convince me to let him go, and I am paying for half the ring. It is ridiculously expensive, but can you put a price on something like this? Think would regret forever if I scrimped on this one piece of jewellery I am ever going to wear. Ok, enough self-justification.

The return flight home was easily my best flight ever. We flew out of Newark Airport at around 9pm, and flew past Manhattan island, which was the most amazing panorama view, better than on the boat cruise, or from the top of the Rockefeller Centre. Amazing, dark sky and bright sparkling city. I had the window seat…hooray! Then, I promptly passed out, waking only when we began out descent over London at 9am the next morning, and out the window that time was early morning London, clear skies, and I had a great view of the Thames winding its way through the city (if you have ever seen a horrid show called Eastenders, you might know what the view was like). That flight was easily the best ever.

Next vacation may be a while away due to lack of funds, due to extravagant ring purchase...but thats ok. Don't want to escape London in the summer anyway...it is fantastic already. Everyone smiles more, you can stay out later because it is light and warm, and I have a big backyard and bbq!!! Last weekend was spent lying in the sun with drinks and snacks watching McLeods on my mini-dvd player (excellent purchase).

rambling now. so this is the end.

Photos

Here is a link to my photo's on the internet. If it doesn't work, maybe see if you can cut and paste into the address bar.

They are just a few photo's...

http://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=TracyMusung&CID=1938120&E=Y&ILD=3223573

Australia

Although they say that when you are tired of London you are tired of life, I must admit that in January this year, I was tired of London . I was sick of the grey, and the cold, and the never wanting to do anything but stay inside and sleep. I couldn’t be bothered doing anything new or different, but at the same time hated the rut I was in. So it was timely that George bought me a return flight home for three weeks in February.

I flew home on Virgin Atlantic – excellent in-flight entertainment, horrifically uncomfortable chairs, and not too crash hot food. However, I was so excited, that I didn’t even care (unlike on the return home flight when I definitely did care, and thought I was near death from lack of good food and air). When I arrived, Kirsty, Betty, Amanda and Graham were all waiting with smiles, hugs and balloons (including a monkey balloon with big ears and stick arms which looked suspiciously like me…I later found out that that is exactly why they bought it).

and then I got driven down to Wollongong, and after being in London for so long...being driven anywhere was a luxury. Being driven all that way, and not having to pay a minimum of £25 was bliss. Even better was later on when I started driving myself, in the fantastic Echo. I thought it would be difficult to be driving again, but it was a piece of cake (due in no small part I am sure to the magnificent engineers of the Toyota Echo, best car in the universe, and superiorly named in Australia, compared to in the UK where it was always called a Yaris...bad, bad name).

While I was in Wollongong I spent a lot of time with all my friends and family, went shopping in Sydney (and bought an Alannah Hill dress for which I will have no use in the foreseeable future unless I star in a London show of A Midsummer Nights Dream), visited my grandma, spent a lot of time in George’s shop catching up with old work-mates and favourite customers, slept in, had afternoon siestas, ate lamingtons and KFC chips, went to the beach, watched McLeods daughters endlessly, bought shoes, ate FRESH fruit and LAMINGTONS!!! yum yum! (since I got back I have attempted to make lamingtons. They came out as delicious, but hard little rocks. Maybe this was because I covered them in melted chocolate, rather than chocolate icing. I will be trying again at some point....

I even had time to fit in a trip to Canberra. I got down there on a Friday afternoon, loaded down with cakes. Bredoir let me into the building and I wandered around the third floor giving away cake to mostly strangers. No one knew who I was, yet they all accepted food from me, which shows, that we don't really learn from childhood that we shouldn't accept sweets from strangers. I also met my replacements in the FaCS AAU...um, I don't think there is too much to say about that without getting into trouble from the politeness police. Thank you everyone that came out for tea with me on that Friday, re-enacting my farewell dinner of over two years ago (similar to that farewell, I also got to sight my 'nemesis' which is always good for a laugh). Thanks to Tina Lee and Phoebs (and Josh) for letting me stay at your flats, thanks Arun for driving all the way down, and thanks to Robin for the lovely Finance anniversary mug.

While I am on thanks...thanks to Kirsty for coming all the way down from Brisbane and Christina for driving me to the airport, and every other man and his dog (especially Betty George Amanda and Graham), for making my time at home so special.

I dreaded coming back to London , rain and work. But when I got here, the weather had brightened up, the days had started getting longer, and everyone was in a better mood. That immediately made me feel better. Then the weather snapped, and it started snowing, and now it is like I had never left at all...but I am trying to be positive!!!

The work situation is getting to be quite interesting (“will I stay or will I go”-type-drama’s) and my housemates are all back from winter trips, so it feels fun again. I think I can battle it out for a bit longer over here.

Since being back I have even been getting out at the weekend, exploring london, or like yesterday, I went to Cambridge for the first time.

Also, I have a five night mini-break in New York planned for the Easter Weekend! hooray!!! So I guess that will be my next post!!!

I can't be bothered proof-reading this, hope it is ok.

Ridge Hill

It has been pointed out to me from many sides that I have not posted for quite a while. This is only because I have not been on any trips in quite a while, and therefore, have not much to say.

However, in an attempt to please my mass of fans, I will now post on my new house. Which isn’t really new anymore, I moved in October, but have restrained myself in posting about it until I got absolutely desperate for news.

Ok, so, in October, I moved from south east London , (Bermondsey), to North West London, (Golders Green). I moved for a few reasons, one of which was an inability to get along with one of my housemates, but mainly I wanted to move in with Aidan, and I liked his housemates and the area his house is in. So I have gone from sharing a three bedroom flat with two irish boys, to living in a nine person house sharing with kiwi’s and aussies. There are three couples, a pair of brothers, and a threesome of friends, so it is all very friendly and family like. It is not at all a party house like some other houses I know, and, most importantly, I am not the only girl. There are five girls to four boys – hooray.

I can see your amazement now…nine people!?!? But the house is quite big, our bedroom is very big and we spend a lot of time in it, there are three bathrooms…basically, there is plenty room, and it is nice to have a house of friendly, but quiet, people. (That is the other good thing, in Bermondsey, my bedroom faced a very noisy road. In Golders Green it faces a very quiet backyard!).

One other reason I moved, was because I thought south east London was dodgy, and that north west looked safer. Bermondsey is a council estate type area, but it is getting nicer as people buy out the council flats, because it is very near the city. Golders Green is a wealthier, family-oriented, Jewish area. So I thought it would be nice and quieter and safer. Hmmm, well, I am not going to dwell too much on that…

I have also had a couple of visitors over the past few months. Emma stayed with me for a week, and now Sel is with me for two weeks. It is excellent, and feels like I never left Canberra . There is a lot of pudding eating and Gilmore Girl watching going on. I also went to see the Dirty Dancing stage show with Emma, and the Nutcracker Ballet. Sel and I went out to the countryside last weekend, but that is the last time I will do that until summer. We were glad to get home, and have reverted to lying on my bed all day watching Gilmore Girls. This is what winter is for.

Then, for Christmas, we spent it with Aidan’s sister and her lover, and it was wonderful company, food and presents (wonderful, WONDERFUL food). New Years was a non-event though, as I was in bed and asleep before midnight. If you think I was a home body in Australia , imagine what I am like in a freezing cold country where it gets dark at 4pm and I have no car. That’s right.

So now I am waiting for my next holiday, which is to go home for three weeks in February. I am looking forward to seeing everyone very much, eating proper fresh food, and maybe getting a little bit of a tan.

See you all soon.

Paris Take 2

Although I had already been to Paris on a romantic mini break this time last year with Bredoir, it did not preclude me from going on another just this past weekend. Can there be such a thing as ‘too many romantic mini-breaks to Paris ’?

This time, it was another bargainous trip, as it was all organised and paid for by the lovely Aidan as my birthday present. Potentially, the best birthday present ever (not future-inclusive, so as to preclude from the possibility of it all being ‘down hill from here’).

We set off early on Saturday morning down to Waterloo to get the Euro Star. The only morning in recent history where it wasn’t an effort to get out of bed! It was fantastic to be going somewhere foreign without going to the airport AND only carrying a handbag! (Aidan just had a day pack). The Eurostar is the best thing ever, and I suspect I shall have to use it much more in the future. You only need to be there 20 minutes before your train leaves, you don’t have to line for hours anywhere (all self check in), you get assigned seats (unlike stupid cheapo airlines over here who for some reason think it is prohibitively expensive to write 17C on your ticket), and the station isn’t out in the middle of whoop whoop like all airports (similarly for the station when you get to Paris). Really, Eurostar is the way of the future!

When we arrived, we went straight to a shopping area recommended by a girl from my work, and basically I bought the first pair of shoes I saw. They are the best shoes ever, and already I have had lots of compliments on them (solicited). I assumed that was the start of a mad shopping frenzy, however, I didn’t buy anything else the rest of the weekend.

Of course though there was lots of food buying, mostly patisserie goods. London , and England in general, severely lack good patisseries and bakeries. In fact, there aren’t even many bad bakeries, there are just not many bakeries at all. If anyone wants a business opportunity (Michels) I think there is a market. I mean, English people are junk food gobbling hogs just like the rest of the world, so I don’t know why they wouldn’t want more cake. And pies. They look like they would be good pie-eaters. However, you might need to deep-fry them first.

I also found a fantastic chocolate bar in Paris called ‘Ovamaltine’… like ‘saxamaphone’….it is a block of chocolate riddled with Ovaltine (you know, like Milo), and it is super reminiscent of the old Milo bars (which were, incidentally, far, far, far superior to current Milo bars). Unfortunately, Aidan shares my love of Milo-bar type goods, so the two family blocks of Ovamaltine we bought are nearly gone, and I don’t know how on earth I am going to get any more. He is lovely though, and lets me be greedy and doesn’t eat too much of it himself.

So on the Saturday it was just a lot of walking around in the Latin Quarter and Marais areas (including the Luxembourg Gardens which were beautiful), and then in the evening we went up to our hotel in Montmartre and wandered around there a lot, and had some tea. That area would be nice, and I know it is just all touristy, but I’m sorry, the proliferation of sex shops and sex shows disturbs me…or maybe that is because I am a sensitive little flower. I did get offered free entry to the sex show though! Didn’t go in…thought would ruin the idea of ‘romantic mini-break’…also don’t know what I would do in such a situation,…isn’t it a natural instinct to avert your eyes, but then will they be offended if you do that? And really, it would be a waste of money (if you were paying)…oh it was all too confusing. So instead, we walked up to the Sacre Couer, and sat on a wall and looked out over Paris with the big, white, Sacre Couer all lit up and beautiful. Think is my favourite part of Paris .

Then on the Sunday, all the shops are closed, (backwards! Backwards! Tasmania !), so we went and walked around the area near the Louvre, and then out to the Catacombs. The Catacombs are these excavated tunnels under the city where they have stored these zillions of peoples bones (because it was thought during the plague that they were making people sick, so they dug them up out of the cemetery and shoved them down these tunnels which were limestone quarries). But then, they didn’t just pile them up, they stored them in all these designs and stuff, and made kind of ‘art work’ out of them. I have never imagined that one cemetery could have had so many bones. (I tried to find on the internet how many bones, but couldn’t find a number, so I will put a conservative estimate in at a zillion. There are some cool pictures if you go to http://www.quovadimus.org/paris/cat/thumb.html so you can see what I am talking about… I don’t even know if that link will work on my blog).

So yeah, very very good weekend.

In other news, I have moved out of Bermondsey (close to city, expensive, full of derro’s) and moved in with Aidan in Golders Green (quieter, far less derros, much cheaper, but a bit farther out). We have not yet killed each other, and it is going really well so far. I am now living in a massive share house, true Aussie-in-London style….9 people! My last house was only 3 people. Luckily Aidan and I have a huge, quiet room, and our own bathroom. And if you couldn’t have guessed from the fact that I wanted to live there, it isn’t a party house. They are all really nice people actually (although most of them are Kiwi’s).

Barcelona

Despite my hatred of airports and flying, I just had to do one last trip, before I hung up my backpack…so I had three nights in Barcelona with Olivia and Sue-Ellen! Plans for sun baking were soon dropped, as the weather was drizzly, but it still ended up being a fab weekend.

It was the weekend of the Merca festival, which celebrates the beginning of Autumn. So the city was full of markets, street theatre, music, food and wine tasting, and street parades. It was a fantastic party atmosphere, despite the weather… (which cleared up on Sunday, giving me a few hours of sun baking). The party was still going at 3:30am Monday morning as we drove to the airport. (Not me partying, the city. I was in bed by nine of course).

Now lets discuss my newly found hatred of British Airways. Cut-price airlines all the way for me now. BA delayed me on the way to Barcelona , and on the way back, FORCING me to have Monday off work to relax after my harrowing flight…or at least to go for a late breakfast with Sue and Liv and then eat Brownies and ice cream all afternoon…stupid airline. Easy Jet wouldn’t care if there were engineering problems, they would throw some Clag glue on it and we would be off! BA has to get ‘engineers’ in…as if engineers are good for anything, except wasting my time!

However, back to the positive. As we were wandering around Barcelona on Friday afternoon we saw a big poster advertising a George Michael concert for the very next day. We searched for tickets all over, until eventually we bought some on the day out of some random cash machine. Bit daunting to have my credit card put into a Spanish-only ‘ATM’ and have Sue and Liv experimentally pressing all the random buttons they could find in an effort to bring up George Michael tickets…but I don’t seem to have any scary charges on my card. (That’s right, in Barcelona you can buy tickets to sporting and music events in the cash machines!?)

The concert was in a massive stadium up the top of the hill near the palace in Barcelona , and we had the most excellent seats. Andre the giant was sitting in front of me for a little second, but he was in the wrong seat, so moved before the concert even started. The stage was awesome…a single screen that ran down the back wall and across the floor and down the front, with George dancing all over it. The highlights of the concert being George singing ‘Faith’ in a totally coked up frenzy, and the giant blow up George Bush with a British bulldog performing…well, you know…on him.

The other highlight of Barcelona was the tapas. We went to a restaurant for tapas and paella, which was excellent, but we also went to a tapas bar, where you just point out all the things you want. Yum Cha and Tapas have the right idea…sometimes you want a taste of lots of different things. That is why Sue and I think there should be dessert tapas! Yum yum. With tiny tarts, profiteroles, little waffles, strawberries, brownies, scoops of icecream…mmmm, isn’t that a great idea! More food should come in the tapas/yum cha style. Not All-you-can-eat though, it would be paying individually like yum cha. All you can eat is a terrible idea I think, because most people do NOT know when to stop eating and really we all eat a lot more than we even need (I should know, being one of the worst offenders). Why are meals at restaurants so huge? Why are all the meals at take away places able to be upsized to XXXXL super humongous size with a five gallon coke? I don’t know…we’re all big fat piggies, we are.

In continuation of that theme, the other good food in Barcelona was, not Spanish, but BBQ chicken and chips, like how we have back home. In England it is all deep fried, oily and feral, but the chicken and chips in Barcelona reminded me of Red Rooster, which I really miss.

AND of course, because Sue-Ellen was there, we obviously went for lunch at the Hard Rock Café…Sue is the only person that takes me to Hard Rock Café’s.

End of food discussions.

We were a bit worried about our accommodation, as we booked into a one star hotel…but I am not even sure what those stars mean, because the hotel was fine! It was clean, breakfast included, and our own bathroom, AND airconditioning. Sure there were prostitutes out the front, but it was only a couple of minutes off La Rambla, so you can’t complain.

We also went to see the fantastic fountain out the front of the palace, which is truly the most impressive fountain I have ever seen. It is huge and does all these water and light displays, so the best time to see it is at night. The other cool thing was obviously the Gaudi architecture around Barcelona . In particular, La Famiglia church or chapel or whatever it is.

I also went to the first ever Camper store (you know, Camper shoes), to try and find some boots. Because the only boots I have that aren’t kids boots, are Camper ones, since I am afflicted with the ‘stick in a bucket’ syndrome of skinny, skinny legs. Unfortunately, the first ever Camper store does not seem to have evolved since its beginnings and was terribly lame. However, in the airport I bought some excellent Camper boots. Now I wish had bought them in every colour I could find…because they don’t sell that style in London . Sad times.

Hmmm, what else have I been up to? Well, my family came and visited for 9 days, and I took time off work to do some touristy things with them and see some shows and eat vegan food….bleugh. sorry mand. We celebrated Amanda’s 30th birthday while she was here, and I think it was incredibly lucky/excellent that I didn’t have to miss out on that milestone. We saw the Woman in Black, which is a spooky play, and We Will Rock You, which is a musical based on Queen songs, which I didn’t think I would like but actually it was quite good. It was sad to see them go, but it didn’t make me as homesick as it could possibly have had. It would be nice to be able to go round to mum and Manda’s house like I used to, to chat and watch telly, eat and cook together, but hopefully there is a lot more of that to be done in the future, and not doing it now will not mean I can never do it again.

Then last weekend I went to a gig at Brixton Academy , which is a really cool theatre. The gig was Jurassic 5, which I think is too cool for me, because I could not understand a word they were saying. It was strange that the whole place was packed out with white people, considering it was a) in Brixton and b) a hip hop gig…those white-collar, white people with their hip hop music! I don’t know…

Scotland

Hello Everyone, my latest adventure has been driving around Scotland for ten days with Aidan. We both had a fantastic time, despite the horrors of the first day. Although he hasn’t driven a manual since his driving test, Aidan thought it would be a cool idea to hire a manual (?). When we went to pick up the car however he stalled it about fifteen times in a row…dodgy considering we weren’t even out of the rental car lot. This was followed by him practice driving around the back streets of Finchley for a while, during which I jumped out of the car and got a bus home. Stressful, stressful ….although it was a bad start to a holiday, we ended up having a lovely time.

General impressions were that I didn’t particularly like Scottish towns, while loving their scenery and wilderness. This isn’t to say Glasgow and Edinburgh weren’t good. Edinburgh was amazing and we didn’t really go into the centre of Glasgow (petrified by the Government funded billboards on the outskirts of the city proclaiming ‘anyone can become addicted to heroin’ and memories of Trainspotting).

The vibe in Edinburgh was really excellent, because it was the time of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We have decided that we will definitely go back next year for the festival, and stay a bit longer, as we only saw two shows. (We missed out on tickets for a show entitled ‘I'm worried that I'm starting to hate almost everyone in the world’ …which seemed just right for Aidan and I, and we were understandably disappointed). The shows we did see were ‘Bill Hicks – slight return’, which was a guy doing stand up in an impersonation of Bill Hicks, kind of offensive, and totally hilarious. And a play called ‘The Black Jew Dialogues’, which gave an insight into the current issues with being black or jewish in America. It was quite an eye-opener, as I think in Australia we have very different racial issues. I saw an odd poster in the street for some kind of ‘theatre’ called ‘Tits and Blood’, but despite my intrigue, it had finished the night before.

We also did a ghost tour of the city, which wasn’t as scary as I had been told, because I think I have been desensitised by too many scary movies (footnote: creepiest movie part ever – the end of the Ring with the coming out of the telly thing. Most disturbing movie part ever – Saw 2 where they throw her in that pit of syringes!! Aagghh!) Now, back to my actual story, they walked us around the city, and then into the vaults under the cities main bridge (they filled in the arches under the bridge to make more room for the exploding population of Edinburgh a couple of hundred years ago, but they were leaky and cold and crap, so they moved everyone out again, blocked them off, and they were only opened again recently). Then they took us to some graveyard in the pitch black, and into some old run down vault (you know those family tomb things), which I swear to god I would not have gone near if it was daylight and I could actually see! Suspect they had to clear out the junkies before they took us in there, and god knows what I was stepping on – most terrifying moment of the night. They had some good gory stories though. Mostly about torture that the Government had imposed on people (think the end of Braveheart, pulling out your guts and showing you, etc). There was one good story about some Duke, whose son was insane so they locked him in the attic, and one day he got loose, and he went down to the kitchen, where he found a boy turning a pig on a spit over the fire. He took the pig off, put the boy on, cooked him, and ate him! This is supposedly a true story. But why would he not just eat the pig? Hmm, probably something to do with the ‘being insane’ thing.

Lastly on Edinburgh, I want to do a plug for the best meal I ate in Scotland. The food was amazing, and the service was the best I have had in the UK, seriously. It was at a pub/restaurant called The Villager, on Melbourne Street which runs off the Royal Mile. (Best thing about Scottish restaurants – no smoking, unlike in England!). If anyone that reads this ever goes there, you really should look in on this place. It was excellent.

After Edinburgh it was out into the highlands for the rest of our trip, starting with Oban. We stayed in a B&B about 15 minutes drive out of Oban…thank God. Oban is a bit of a Bateman’s Bay…Rowans Funland tacky if you know what I mean. The main attraction is that it is a port town, and this is how you get out to the southern islands of the west coast. We took a boat tour to take us out among the islands to see some Wildlife and the whirlpools. Whirlpools were a disappointment, as Aidan had hyped me up to expect a huge swirling vortex, which we would have to be careful not to let the boat get dragged in to….in reality, it was just this area of ocean with really glassy water interspersed with tiny little ‘whirlpools’…it was ok, but I wouldn’t recommend it. As for the wildlife, they were mostly hiding…saw some seals, some deer and an eagle…oh and other birds, but if they aren’t puffins (and they weren’t) then I don’t really care much for birds. There were two people running the boat cruise. One, a new grad marine biologist girl was interesting to me, simply because I always wondered where those marine biologists actually get jobs. And the man, about forty years old, was seriously, Ian McFadden. From the comedy company? He used to play an explorer? Well it wasn’t really him, but he acted/talked exactly like him.

The B&B at Oban was probably my least favourite, as I found the lady that ran it very school-marmish, and you could sense marital tension between her and her husband. Also the house wasn’t ye olde like the others, it was almost like one of those kit homes, very flimsy feeling. But it was in a great location on the coast, five minute walk to a little castle, so it wasn’t all bad. Felt mean when the next day we rushed off with me saying ‘quick Aidan, quick, before she talks to us!’…and then she rushed out to our car to give us a copy of a Calendar that she had done the photography for….I am so mean…Otherwise, all the people running the B&B’s were nice, they were all ladies except for one. I really recommend B&B’s because they are relatively cheap compared to hotels, and they are nicer/cleaner/quieter than hostels. But like I said, it is nicer to stay out of the Scottish towns if at all possible…they are a bit dreary and depressing…whereas if you stay out of town you can stay cheaply in a B&B that might overlook a loch, or be at the edge of a moor, or at the foot of a beautiful mountain!

Next stop was the Isle of Skye via Glen Coe. The scenery driving through Glen Coe and around that area was the most beautiful in Scotland, I certainly don’t have the talent to describe it, we will see if my photo’s will turn out any good. Story of Glen Coe: so, the English were annoyed at this Scottish clan for some reason (forgetting to sign some treaty on time or something), so they sent some soldiers to go and stay with them, all friendly and nice, and for two weeks these Scottish clan people looked after them and had no idea what was going on and then one morning, the English soldiers just turned on their hosts and slaughtered them! Bastards! There were a lot of stories of English bastardry on our drive around Scotland. Although, another one, about the clearances, I thought it was the English people that did the clearances (i.e. where they cleared all the highlanders out of the highlands), but you know what? It wasn’t! it was some of the heads of the Scottish Clans!

We stayed in a lovely B&B on the Isle of Skye on a mountain overlooking a beautiful loch. On Skye I would recommend the Fairy Pools walk. It takes you for a walk through a moor at the foot of these towering mountains, to these clear water ponds and pools among waterfalls. Skye was also the place where I could get up close enough to a highland cow to take a photo (although very uncomfortable, as I think there were people in a nearby van having sex with the door open that wanted me to go away).

Then we drove up to Ullapool which is another port town that has ferries that take you out to the more northern west islands like Isle of Lewis. Here they had what was touted by Radio 4 as the ‘Best takeaway in Britain’. It was a fish and chip shop, and the only one I have seen in Britain so far that does not have the food pre-cooked and sitting in heated little coffins at the counter. They fried it all fresh, and it was probably the best I have had over here – though that doesn’t say much. The fish and chips at the top shop at Farmborough Hts (circa any of the multitude of owners) could beat the crap fish and chips they serve up in Britain.

Next we drove up the far north coast and around to Mey, where we stayed the night and had a fantastic home cooked meal at our B&B. It was just up the road from the Castle of Mey (which is apparently where the Queen Mother used to chill out), and so we walked up there and had a gander. We could also see over to the Orkneys from our B&B, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go over there and check them out. We had great weather that day, and went past some white sand beaches, so I have got some summer-beach looking photos that are quite incongruent with the idea of a Scottish holiday.

The next day we drove down to Kingussie, which is in the heart of ‘Monarch of the Glen’ country. We went to try and take a photo of the Monarch of the Glen castle, but we couldn’t because it was the one day of the trip where it poured down with rain. If it was fine weather, I would have walked around to the castle, because even though it is privately owned, there are no trespass laws in Scotland, so you can walk wherever the hell you like! Lucky for them it was raining. On that day we also went to Loch Ness (disappointingly one of the more unappealing lochs – boring, grey, choppy, no monster) and Culloden. Culloden being the battlefield where Scotland finally lost properly to the British and like 1500 Scottish people were slaughtered (they had no shoes!) and only 50 English died (they had big f*ck off artillery stuff!).

We also went to a highland games on the edge of Loch Ness, which was an experience. It is kind of like a school fete/athletics carnival rolled into one, plus, I assume, a lot of liability insurance, since big men were throwing big dangerous heavy things around everywhere. It was no St Mary’s International Night, but the locals were loving it.

On our final night, we stayed outside of Glasgow down near Lanark, on a farm. This was very close to the Falls of Clyde, which is a waterfall on the River Clyde, so we did a nice little walk along there. The walk starts at a place called New Lanark, which is obviously much older than the normal Lanark, so was a bit confusing. Apparently it was called New Lanark, because this was the place that Robert Owens introduced radical new labour practices during the dark days of the Industrial Revolution (like not putting children down the mines!).

This was also near where Aidan’s uncle lives (in Busby), so we went and had lunch with him, and he showed us some photo’s of Aidan as a youngster. In one photo he looked about 16, but when I looked at the back of the photo, it was only 3 years ago! London has certainly aged him! He says it is because that photo was taken before he started full time work…

Well, my next trip will be to Barcelona in a couple of weeks, for a long weekend with Sue-Ellen and Olivia, but after that I might wind the travels back a bit. I think I take my trips a bit too much for granted, and don’t get as excited about going when I go all the time, so I might lay off for a while, and then can get worked up for my next trip. Also, another contributing factor is that I have now developed an absolute hatred for Airports. I hate the waiting, I hate the queues, I hate the crap shops, I hate being felt up at security, I hate cheap airlines that don’t allocate you a seat so you have to push and shove otherwise you get shoved in between two people who are such a size they should get the three seats to themselves, I hate those people that use a ‘trolley’ to put their tiny little bag on, I hate the horrible food that is 845 times normal price, I hate that the airports are all outside the city so it is a trek to even get to the airport in the first place and even worse is all this when you are coming home, because there is not much to be excited about at the other end!

Okay….so that is my airport rant….

Greece

Now, although I am not at work, I am ready to blog (work having been unseasonably busy since my return!).

Two weeks in Greece, overall itinerary was four nights in Athens, two in Mykonos, two in Paros, two in Ios and four in Santorini. Travel partner was Shauna from my work, but unfortunately, also a motley crew of contiki-style people as well. Busabout turned out to be less like a Eurail pass (as I had thought), and more like a Contiki pash-and-booze-a-palooza. Best part of that is, that although I had a good time, fabulous weather, beautiful islands...i did not resent coming home too much, as I was coming back to my own room and some peace and quiet. (In flat news, my canadian flatmate is moving out and an irish man moving in, so now will be just me and two irish men...hmmm....I feel a pilot for a sitcom coming on).

We flew into Athens with very low expectations. Everyone had said that Athens was completely lame and dirty. However, I found this to not be at all the case. First of all, the airport was lovely. They even have a museum in the airport showing all the bits and pieces dug up when they were building the airport (vases, plates, etc). The trains into the city were really clean and easy to use as well. Having been to Istanbul recently, I found Athens was no dirtier than Istanbul...actually quite a bit cleaner.

Our hotel was also fabulous. The man at the desk was the most helpful hotel man the world has ever seen, AND it had free internet. We were pretty much in the central tourist district, a fifteen minutes walk from the acropolis, among lots of restaurants and across the road from some kind of porno cinema. It is very impressive walking through Athens, as you can see the Acropolis up on the hill from nearly everywhere.

First night in Athens we went out to try the local cuisine, which haunted me all through the night and made me appreciate the chair that was situated next to the toilet in the bathroom. Quite comfortable to be able to sit on a chair next to the toilet, back against a cool tile wall, able to vomit whenever you like...well as comfortable as you can be after throwing up for hours anyway.Better than sitting on the floor! Ok, think have flogged the vomiting story to death...Despite the first meal in Greece turning my stomach, I decided not to avoid the local cuisine thereafter, and really did not have another problem. In fact, loved Souvlaki, which is of course meat on a stick...mmmm. convenient. In double che news, double che in greece was odd as it had no sauce, no onion, and no pickle!

So in Athens we visited the Archaelogical museum, the Acropolis, the Agora's (ruins of marketplaces), temple of Zeus, and we caught a bus down to the temple of Poseiden at Sounion, which is kind of just like all the ruins in Athens, but by the ocean...which is nice. The most impressive thing I found about all these ruins, is that the marble that they are all made of was mined on Paros in the Greek Islands, which is at least 7 hours away on a modern ferry! so 2700 years ago, someone found this marble on the islands, mined it, and shipped bazillions of tonnes of it all the way to Athens to build not only the acropolis, but lots of other temples around the place, and even many of the gutters in Athens are made of marble!

From Athens we caught a five and a half hour ferry out to Mykonos, where we stayed at the Contiki resort. Hilariously, for those who know my feelings on loud americans, the majority of the resort was at the time booked out to students from Miami university. To my uneducated mind it was reminiscent of all those shows you see about 'Spring Break'. Their confidence and volume were amazing. Another funny thing was that our tour guide for the Busabout thing I was on was a young american called Cody...as soon as he introduced himself I could not stop smiling. Natalie, a girl I befriended on the trip, pointed out to him that in the book 'Freakonomics' she was reading, Cody was the number one name that uneducated parents choose to name their child. (I did not look into this statistic, but assume that the survey was only taken of americans, because if it was an international survey, and Cody was the most common name chosen by undeducated people internationally...well maybe I shouldn't go there in case I get hunted down and killed for Anti-american sentiments...)

In Mykonos we explored the little town, which was everything you would expect the greek islands to be about...whitewashed buildings with colorful doors and shutters, cobblestone streets, restaurants on the water, white dome roofed churches and windmills. There were also these couple of pink pelicans walking around the town. They aren't scared of people and just walk up and down the streets, into shops, get chased out of shops. Apparently the original pelican was a gift to Mykonos from that Jackie Onassis.

Back at the resort, we lazed around on the beach a lot on sun loungers and under umbrellas, taking advantage of the fact that they were free, as on every other beach we went to they cost quite a bit. Then I went on this thing, which was like a big rubber donut, that they tie to the back of a speed boat and take you out on the ocean for fifteen minutes or so....very fun.

After Mykonos we went to Paros (where all that marble came from). Paros was a lot quieter, the towns are still as picturesque though. The accommodation was hideous, so if possible, if you go to Paros do NOT stay at a place called the Coral Roms in Naoussa. Naoussa itself is quite nice though. In paros we climbed this MOUNTAIN to St Anthonys Monastery, which was beautiful, but I nearly died (repeat occurence on volcano walk which I will talk about later). We visited the traditional village of Lefkes, which is built away from the coast and up in the hills to hide from pirates...which is odd, because throughout the greek islands, all the other towns seem to be built on the coast.

The third island we visited was Ios, where we stayed at the 'Far Out' resort. I highly highly highly recommend this accommodation to anyone going to Ios.But stay in the hotel, not the camping grounds, as the bungalows in the camping grounds are stiflingly hot and full of insects, so Shauna and I upgraded to the hotel, which was only 17 Euros a night each anyway, airconditioned, and beautiful. There isnt much to say about Ios, other than that it is the party island of the area and it is super cheap. It is very debaucherous, and not really my scene, but I had fun anyway, and got a little bit tipsy on my first night there.

My favourite island of the four was Santorini. Actually, the island is not called Santorini. the island we stayed on is called Thira, and the group of islands is Santorini. All the islands used to be part of a volcano (I suppose they still are actually). After some big earthquake, a lot of the sides of the volcano collapsed, and the ocean ran into the volcano, and there were just bits and pieces of the volcanos rim left above sea level. and those are the islands. They are all situated in a circle shape, so you can see how big the volcano would have been (9 by 6 miles apparently). In the middle of the circle are some new islands, which are made of lava that is being pushed up from the centre of the volcano. (I don't think I explained all that properly).

Santorini is beautiful. High, jagged cliffs, with villages perched on top, white washed buildings set against the dark cliffsides, and beautiful sunsets. The first night we went out for dinner on the Caldera, which is the very edge of the inside rim of the volcano...I sat and ate my squid (ordered calamari, it came out as a whole entire squid), facing the ocean and the other islands, high above sea level, watching an amazing sunset. Would have been romantic had I been with anyone good (you know what I mean). After dinner we went to a pub to watch the Australia Croatia game, and since we got through to the next round, I may have gotten a little bit tipsy...

This was to haunt me the next day as I clambered around the lava volcano island thing, in searing heat with a hangover. The ground was all black, barren, dusty and hot, it was a steep walk, there was no shade, it was a nightmare. Old, fat ladies were walking past me with no problems though...

After that we caught a boat around to another side of the volcano and dove off the boat into beautiful clear blue waters to swim into shore where there were some hot springs. As I dove off the boat into the water (movie-style) I felt a million times better, very refreshed, and was able to enjoy the warm springs and soft clay/mud which is apparently supposed to be very good for your skin.

Santorini is also famous for its three different types of beaches. Black sand, red sand and white sand. We didn't see the white sand, as with limited time we assumed these would be the same as all the other beaches we had seen, but we went to the black and red.

The red sand beach was my favourite of all the beaches on all the islands. It isn't really sand, it is red pebbles, but they are quite comfortable on the feet, and the water is amazingly clear. It is set against a background of these sheer cliffs which are black and red rock...very impressive. Must somehow post photos.

The black sand beach was much less impressive. It is what I would imagine Port Kembla beach to look like if Port Kembla beach wasn't actually nice, and if it had coal instead of sand. The water wasn't as clear either. The only good feature of it was that it was a lot easier to get to than the red sand beach, which you had to clamber around a point to get to (although, that only adds to its charms in my opinion).

I have returned from Greece with quite a good tan I think, not one speck of sunburn, and a really cool necklace thatI have taken a photo of which I will also have to post. If you are going to the Greek Islands though, try to make it early or late summer, as it was almost uncomfortably hot already at this time of year (or am I just becoming too British...?).

For Nicholas

It appears that Nicholas is of the opinion that my blogging skills are just not up to scratch. So to prove him wrong I am posting from the resort computers on IOS!!!! (Greek Island).

I will do a proper post on my trip when I get back and can write it in my own time, but I will just let you know that I am having a great time and have so far been to Athens, Mykonos, Paros and Ios.

Ios is the biggest party Island of them all, and it is the home of my first drunken night in probably about six months! I stayed out till 5am if you can believe it and would have partied longer but was dragged back to the resort. It turns out that there is a cocktail called Sex on the Beach that tastes a lot like juice and costs only 3 Euros!!! Good times indeed.

Anyway, I cannot post anymore as I am still on holidays and would rather be out on the beach!!!!

Will post more when I have time....like when I am back at work.

Traks.

Norway

The past weekend was the Bank holiday weekend in the UK, so to maximise this time off, Sue-Ellen and I decided to go to Norway! Never has a weekend been so jam packed – although, we still oddly had time for day time naps and long spells in coffee shops (where they sold hot chocolate in bowls, which, while very difficult to carry, was obviously my dream).

We stayed in Oslo for three nights, but on the Sunday we spent 24 hours travelling across the country to Bergen, in what can only be described as a ‘beautiful ordeal’. We desperately wanted to see Fjords you see, but there are no decent fjords near Oslo – For example, the ‘Oslo Fjord’, was somewhat reminiscent of Lake Illawarra! So we bought tickets on a tour called ‘Norway in a nutshell’, which promised lots of beautiful scenery, although at a somewhat gruelling schedule, including an overnight return train trip.

The overnight return train trip is basically at the crux of the ‘ordeal’. Ideally, we would have had a sleeper carriage. These were all booked out. The tour lady told us not to worry though, because the train had reclining chairs, blankets, pillows, eyemasks,…very comfortable apparently.

The first thing we noticed, as we took our seats at 11pm, was that our seats, being at the back, and hence up against a wall, could not recline. Secondly, as we were at the back of the carriage, we were at the doors, which squeaked interminably loudly when anyone exited (squeak describes the sound, but not the volume, of this noise. What sound would a mouse make if it was the size of a hippo? Yes, a hippo sized mouse squeak is a good description). You would think that wouldn’t happen often during the hours of 11pm-6am, as most people would sleep. No. It seems that more people than I would have imagined suffer from INCONTINENCE and need to use the bathroom frequently. One word. Poise.

Also, I had the crankiest and ugliest man in the world in front of me, who made faces at me, imitated my laugh and was basically a bit of a bastard. Case in point – he did not put his chair in the upright position the whole journey, not even when he was getting off the train, he left it down in my lap the whole time!

Anyway, during the night, Sue-Ellen and I could obviously not sleep comfortably and were hysterical from tiredness, so we were laughing a lot. An old Norwegian couple in the seats similar to us across the aisle, were also hysterical and the four of us were laughing uproariously and communicating solely with hand/leg signals and facial expressions. They were so lovely, they even shared some of their odd Norwegian food with us (some rice cake type thing covered in some kind of cheese/peanut butter/apricot flavoured wax type something or other which I subtly shoved in between the chairs, and Sue Ellen hid in her shoe – still it was so lovely of them to share). I loved the man in particular, because he did a pretend kick in the air to get some ‘leg room’ and nearly kicked cranky man in front of me in the head. Hooray!

So yes, we were hysterical, and quickly reverted to our highschool years – how better to deal with this situation, than to write a song! Thus the creation of ‘Non-Reclining Chair’, sung to the tune of Bon Jovi’s ‘Living on a Prayer’. Once we had developed that song, we still had some creative juices flowing, so started another one called ‘The Pain Train’, sung to the tune of ‘The Peace Train’, but we think we must have passed out, so that is still in development.

Anyway, best stop whingeing about the worst part of the trip, and explain what we actually saw.
We left Oslo very early in the morning to catch the Bergensbanen mountain train line across the Hardangervidda National park, which was over 4000 feet above sea level, and had frozen rivers/lakes, snow fields as far as the eye can see, just really spectacular winter type scenes. Then we took the Flam Railway through the Flam valley, where the highlights are these amazing waterfalls that run the melting snow down into the fjords.

Side note: it was a ye olde train that stopped randomly to let people off to take photo’s. Sue and I got off, in the middle of nowhere, and the train almost straight away started to pull away. We were running after the train, with a man hanging out the door trying to lift us on. I don’t know why I was running, as I was not going to be jumping on to a moving train – apart from the ridiculousness of it, I was too short. So Sue-Ellen scrambled on, and I just ran alongside, and then it slowed down and stopped and I got on. I don’t know what I was going to do if it didn’t stop, as Sue and my bag were on the train, and I was seriously in the middle of absolutely NOWHERE.

Anyway, then when we got down to Flam, we got on a ferry and went on a Fjord cruise on the Aurlandsfjord and the Naeroyfjord – which is world heritage listed (but then, doesn’t everything seem to be these days?). still, it was everything we could have hoped for as far as stunning scenery goes, and although I cannot seem to post stupid photo’s on this stupid blog, I will email them around sometime soon. Describing it really means nothing…especially with my limited writing skills.

After the boat trip we went up what is apparently the steepest (and windiest - not windy, winding) road in northern Europe, called the Stalheimskleiven canyon road, to get a good view down the canyon at the fjord. Sue and I were bizarrely in the front seat (another aside: the whole journey was a battle to get good seats against insane pushy tourists, who, unlike the brits, do not know how to queue orderly), and the front seat gave us a birds eye view of the driver using ONLY HIS PINKY FINGER to drive a busload of tourists up this nightmarishly perilous road. Again, will send top photos of view down the canyon.

Then from Voss we got another train ride, also picturesque, to Bergen, which is a coastal town on the other side of Norway from Oslo (though still in the South). Here we refuelled with a double Che and then got back on the ‘Pain Train’ at 11 to go back to Oslo. Needless to say, we arrived back in Oslo the next morning, went and wolfed down our complimentary breakfast (was not hungry, but was included in hotel price!), then went to the room and passed out for like five hours.

When we woke up, Days of our Lives was on in English (excellent – as this is not on in the UK), and also some British search for a supermodel type show (which, as another aside, I must say was a gallery of the most unattractive girls I have ever seen, who on top of being unattractive were moll-like in personality. I am not sure these days what constitutes a ‘model’ but it seems to me that attractiveness is no longer a criteria! Seriously, Sue and I have agreed that with leg extensions we could be the next top model!)

So after gathering ourselves from the previous day (and nights) ordeal, we set out around Oslo again, mainly spending time in Frogner Park, which is a huge park filled with quite rude looking statues, and ended up treating ourselves to a lavish seafood dinner at the harbour. (Was thinking this morning how I am constantly ‘treating’ myself. When I am on holiday I spend up big, because I am on ‘holiday’, but when I am at home/work, I spend up big because ‘well, I should spoil myself because I am stuck here at home/work’. My whole life is driven forward by my self-rewards! Which usually only involve food, so maybe that is not too bad…ooh, another digression. Is this turning into a Lucas/Nicholas style blog? Am I losing my succinctness? Did I ever have it to begin with? Was succinctness even a word to begin with?)

Very succinct points to end with:
1. Two famous things in Oslo I will quickly note – it is the home of the Nobel Peace prize and also Munch’s ‘The Scream’…you know that painting?
Also, Norway seems a bit preoccupied with trolls, and although Sue and I were not sure where that originated...well, I shouldn’t really put it up on a blog, but if you email me, I will let you know where we think (with evidence!) it came from.
2. Also, in another quirky aside, how small is Europe? I ran into this girl that was on my Turkey tour on the fjord! Two girls from my Wales trip were in Turkey, a girl from the Turkey tour I saw in Norway...so I should see someone from Norway in Greece next!
3. The palace in Oslo, where the royal family actually stays, has super beautiful gardens, which the public have access to. You can go right up to the palace and everything (though obviously not inside). There are guards, but nothing major, very trusting. There was this cute little ye olde looking house next to the palace and there were soldiers in there milling around all dressed up…was very Pride and Prejudice.

The end.

Turkey

Yes, yes, I am a terrible blogger. This is why I never kept a diary, the novelty runs out quick-smart, I look back at what I wrote and think 'Oh my god what a psycho', and then have to burn it/flush it down the toilet...

Ok, so I just spent two weeks in Turkey, with Aidan and Shauna. On a tour for the first ten days, and on our own for the last four - earlier assertions regarding tours hold, although this one had much lovelier accommodation, like in proper hotels. Bizarrely, this boy from my uni was on our tour. Paul Bailey was in a few of my chem classes at uni and lived with Tom on campus. I ran into him earlier this year on Australia day, and then he was on my tour for ten days through Turkey! what a small, small world.

Hmmm, now, how best to put down succinctly all my experiences...

well...
First we arrived in Istanbul. For those that don't know, Istanbul spans two continents, and so has an Asian side and a European side, which makes it quite unique. It is a super old city, which has been ruled by changing empires and so has heaps of interesting places to explore.

The most famous thing in the city I think is the Blue Mosque, which, when lit up at night, looks amazing, like something from Disney's Aladdin - unfortunately, due to my lame arse photography skills, I was not able to capture this image to post on my blog. My favourite part of Istanbul was the Basilica Cistern, which was basically where the water was kept under the city. It was built in the 6th century AD, and just the fact that they could make something so huge, practical, and beautiful, underneath the city, so long ago, just boggles my mind. It isn't as well known as some of the other sites, so, just in case any of you go there, I highly recommend you remember to visit it.

We went on a dusk cruise down the Bosphorus river, visited the Topkapi palace (which has bits of John the Baptist covered in gold), and the Aya Sofya (a christian church turned mosque with a picture of Jesus looking like Nicholas Cage). We also went to the Grand Bazaar which is this huge market place in the old part of the city, but I was too cynical and annoyed by the irritating stall keepers to buy anything there...even though I think I could pass as Turkish, I know they were trying to rip me off!!!! We had already been gypped (if that is how it is spelt) too many times by the restaurants in Istanbul!!! I ended up getting double che's quite a lot, at least McDonalds has constant, advertised prices! no separate prices for tourists!!! (Just as an aside, has anyone read that book 'Fast Food Nation'? It is supposed to turn you against fast food chains, and thus off their food, but EVERY single time I open it I feel like a cheeseburger and so have to put the book down and go out and find one. Has this happened to anyone else?)

I drank a lot of fresh OJ while in Turkey. They sell it everywhere, squeeze it in front of you and it is really cheap and SO sweet. The other drink I loved, was the apple tea. They also serve this everywhere, in tiny little glasses. Finally I like tea! Although, just quietly, it isn't really tea, I think it is just hot apple juice. Nevertheless, I bought a huge box, brought it back to London, and now can pretend I am English.

After Istanbul we headed to Gallipoli and spent the day before Anzac day eve looking at the museum there and walking around Anzac Cove (where Simpson of Simpson and the donkey is buried and where the Anzacs landed). Did you know Simpson was like 22 when he was killed in battle? I always assumed Simpson was old...something about the donkey maybe...

We got there nice and early on Anzac day eve which meant we got a totally good spot right down the front of the grassed area. Although I was worried that it would be a big boozy party atmosphere, it wasn't at all. It was all kiwi's and aussies, but no alcohol was allowed on the peninsula, and everyone was being really respectful and mature I thought...AND I actually got to lie down in a super comfortable sleeping bag and got a lot of sleep.

Andrew Denton was there and did a lot of presenting-type stuff throughout the night, and it was all quite moving. I didn't put too much thought into what it would be like before I went, but it was fantastic. The Government obviously put a hell of a lot of work (and money) into it - Some of the dollars Arun let slip through before he left, no doubt. The stories were awe-inspiring, and it is a patriotic experience which I imagine I will remember forever. I think everyone shed tears during the last post or the laying of the wreaths.

After the ceremonies, Anzac Day began to go downhill. and although it might be disrespectful to complain about the bad day I had at Gallipoli...I just can't help it! I am a big fat whinger!!!
So anyway, after the ceremonies, we had to sit on the side of the road for hours on end, waiting for our bus to come back and pick us up. There were 600 buses that day. Also, we had to wait for all dignitaries to leave before any buses were allowed up. There were too many dignitaries and they were all slow. I got very sunburned on my face and we didn't get to our hotel until 1am that night (/morning).

Since we got to bed after 1, they let us have a sleep in and not leave until 8am - add to reasons to hate group tours. That day we set off to Ephesus which is one of the ancient cities in Turkey. Unlike Troy (which is basically a collection of old rocks), it has been well preserved and you can imagine what it must have looked like as a fully functioning city. I can’t remember when the city was established other than in Roman times and it had around 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants at the height of its existence. That day I also saw one of the ancient wonders of the world - Ephesus houses the remains of the temple of Artemis (otherwise known as Diana) which is historically significant for a reason I cannot recall. The remains consist of one column, so it was kind of lame.

That day we also headed to Pamukkale which is home to these amazing calcified cliffs- my favourite place in Turkey. The water running out of this mountain has calcified the mountain face and has turned it white. In my photo's it looks like ice and snow. There are all these little pools with the most amazingly warm and clear water that you can have a paddle in and the bottom of it is all soft smooth clay.

The next day we went to a hammam. A hammam is a traditional Turkish bath house. You get into your togs, and then are ushered into the first steam room, which was way hotter than a normal sauna. You also can’t see because of the steam, so you freak out and think you are never going to get out and that you only have 15 seconds to live, and you stumble around blindly bumping into sweaty ferals in their togs. After ten minutes in there they make you go and jump in a cold pool after which you go back into the steam room for another 5 minutes or so. Similar to high school P.E., I refused to get in the pool - who cares if it jeopardised my hammam experience. It was freezing. Anyway, after the second steam you go into a bigger room where you lie on a hot slab of marble while you wait for your turn to be scrubbed down by this dude with a hard core exfoliating scrubber thing. You then have a shower and wash off all the dead skin and then you go for the massage. You lie face down on a rectangular slab of marble and they rub what looks like a pillow case full of bubbles all over you . You then get a massage from head to foot, which I just could not relax during...can't get into being naked and being rubbed. ANYWAY then you go and have another shower to get the suds off and you then sit in the bucket room. The bucket room is a little room where you sit on a little stool and fill bowls with warm water and throw them all over yourself. This then of course graduates to you throwing them all over everyone else which is good fun as well. Especially if you turn the hot water off and just fill your buckets with icy cold water.

The last bit of the trip was Cappadocia. This is an area where the people literally carved entire communities and houses into the mountains and other wierd rock formations. Although I wasn't listening at the time, this was apparently mainly for protection as everyone was trying to invade Turkey and convert the people to various religions for a long period of time. People lived in the mountains until the late 50s when the government moved them out as they were concerned about safety and stability.

Also in Cappadocia, as well as the carved in rock cities, they had this massive underground city. A city built under the ground that goes down 9 levels. We got down to level 6 and then got lost so our guide thought it best that we went back up…she was actually freaking out a bit as she was claustrophobic. I didn't mind getting out, it all looked the same to me. And I worry that these things are going to collapse...tasmania miner style.

Anyway, there you go Nicholas, monster post...now wait 437 days until my next one...

Easter weekend in Wales

Well I have not posted in a long, long time, but that is only because I have not been doing anything exciting, and the goings on of my every day life are less than entertaining. Oh, except I went to Brighton the other weekend...that was ok, not fantastic.

However, this weekend I got out of London and went to Wales for the long Easter weekend...irritatingly called the 'Bank Holiday' weekend, so that I was like "oooh, there is another long weekend after the Easter long weekend!!!"...wrong.

Anyway, I went with my friend Shauna, on a 'Haggis' bus tour, which is a part of the conglomerate that runs Contiki...well, let me just say that I don't think I am the hostel kind of girl. I don't mean to be a princes...but sharing a room with snoring idiot males that I don't know, and therefore cannot assault, was no fun at all. Also, I have issues with the wearing thongs in the shower thing, although I am sure I would have more serious issues with tinea.

On the first day, we were in South Wales, which I really do not recommend at all. The scenery wasn't very nice, kind of barren and bleak. In the North however, the scenery was beautiful, especially on the coast and in the Snowdonia national park.

We went to Caerphilly castle on the first day. Apparently Caerphilly has the highest rate of teenage mums in the UK...and they were all smoking fags out the front of the pubs with their prams. Ah, picturesque south wales. We also went to Tintern Abbey and the Brecon Beacons national park, but neither were fantastic.

Second day improved, with more castles and a night in a coastal town called Caernarfon (pronounced like our Australian Canarvon gorge), with dinner on a floating restaurant at sunset.

The final day had the best stuff, a drive through Snowdonia, and a walk up a hill (read: massive mountain) to the ruins of castle Dinas Bran in Llangollen (pronounced nothing like it is spelt...the double L sounds a lot like trying to hock up spit).

We also went to this stupid town, which has nothing in it, except it's name is really long and ridiculous...they made it long and ridiculous on purpose as a marketing ploy to draw people to their town...and it has obviously worked as probably every tour bus goes there! ridiculous. But here is the name for you anyway... Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I got out and took a photo of the sign, but refused to spend any money. on principle.

I didn't really spend much money anyway. Wales has not much to offer for the consumer. I spent money on food and that is all, and there wasn't even much 'Welsh' food to be had. I think the only welsh thing I had were these things called Welsh cakes which are a cross between a pikelet and a scone, with sultana's in them. In typical Tracy style I have bought way too many, and am now sick of them.

They also have a lot of lamb coming from Wales. Since it was spring, there were a zillion little baby lambs all over the place. (Wales has 11 million sheep apparently, and only 2.9 million people). So there were heaps of cute lambs to look at (the sheep look bizarre because they all have their tails on). But I have eaten British lamb, and it is crap and fatty and pumped full of, what I hope, is water. It is a shame that all those cute little lambs are going to die come November, to produce something so crap.

Now I only have a three day week, and I will be back on holidays, this time to Turkey. Hooray!

(photos to come)

George does London

Thats right, Big George has just spent a good two weeks ripping it up in London. Possibly the only person in this city to not have a winter coat, he bravely improvised with layers of jumpers covered with a yellow raincoat...road worker style.

I have had more culture in those two weeks with George than I will probably have for the rest of the year. My favourite was seeing the Marriage of Figaro (opera) at the Opera House at Covent Garden. Other things we saw were the Mikado at the coliseum (a Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta), Guys and Dolls (West End show), Giselle (ballet at the opera house) and Resurrection Blues (Arthur Miller play with Neve Cambell). We also went down to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.

We ate out or cooked proper meals every night, which was hard going for my Bix-eating stomach, and George even came and saw where I worked. (I'm sorry George that they wouldn't let you in to use the bathroom, but it is a secure building. And no, I still don't know if they would have let you if you were Tony Blair).

Very very busy couple of weeks. Now it is relax and save time for the next month or so, and then in April I will go on a couple of trips. One is a coach tour of Wales, and the other is two weeks in Turkey.

The new Canberra...

...or the new Smith Street, or the new Fairloch Avenue...just like my other moves I have managed to set up a new life for myself. I have a nice flat, new job, some lovely friends, and even maybe a nice guy (if such a thing exists, may just be a figment of my frozen brains imagination). The whole thing has given me more confidence - that I can do whatever and go wherever, and I will be ok.

So I am living in Bermondsey, in a very clean, very warm, pretty safe flat, with an irish guy and a Canadian girl, both of whom have gone out of their way to try and help me get over my homesickness and introduce me to their friends. The flat is across the road from a big park, ten minutes from a supermarket and shopping centre (reminiscent of Dapto mall, but still), and ten minutes from the Tube. The tube line goes straight into the city, so it is very convenient. There are also really nice places within walking distance, such as Tower Bridge, which is very picturesque, especially at night.

I have gotten myself a job in the policy directorate of the Crown Prosecution Service, which is a good way to continue my public service career I think. It is convenient to my flat also, only two Tube stops, and then I walk ten minutes to my office (which includes a nice walk across the Thames). The office is right down the street from St James Cathedral and I can walk to Covent Garden/Leicester Square etc, etc.

It's a very quiet office, full of English Lawyers...and I am not very quiet, so I got told off on my second day. (Not just me, me and the other noisy Australian that I have befriended, Shauna). However, when I went to the Directors office, and she said 'So, I hear you are getting into trouble already?', she said she thinks the office needs livening up, that I should ignore the complainers and that I shouldn't be quiet at all!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAA. So, although it isn't the fun, lively environment I got used to at Finance, I think Shauna and I can make fun for ourselves...(helped by the chocolate fudge cake they sell next door to which I think I am now addicted...is cake another word for crack? Because in the beginning it took me a whole afternoon to eat a piece, it was so rich, but now one piece is just not enough at all, and today when they had no cake left, I swear I was shaking...)

What else have I been up to? Last weekend I went out door ice skating with Shauna and Nicholas. I did not fall down once, therefore did not have to experience my nightmare of falling over and having my fingers run over and cut off by someones ice skates. There were a lot of other people falling over though, and threatening to pull me down, but if that had happened I would have ripped off my skates and cut them up.

I have also recently been to the Tate modern, the Natural history museum, and got taken to the stage show of the Producers in the West End...which was lovely.

Now I am working and saving so that I can go on some travels... and then I will be able to write some more posts.

Good times.

Captions Welcome

The long awaited photo...