New Blog

Hello All!

This fantastic map has started to completely annoy me so I have started a new blog!!  The link is:  http://christine-headley.blogspot.com/

Check it out, Travel Adventures Part 2.  I did take the liberty of filling out the map and all of the places that I have been to on this blog, so you all can enjoy that a little.  I have definitely been ping ponging through the world. 

I haven't blogged in months and I have so so much to fill you all in on while I have been in Asia.  What started out as a 3 wk layover in Thailand en route to Australia has turned into a 3 month journey of which has turned out to be more than I could have ever imagined!!  In addition to Thailand I have been to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.  I will go back through my trip and post pictures on my new blog. 

Happy New Year!!!!

Stay tuned!!

That's all for now!!

grrrrrrrrrrrr

I am really upset right now!!  I was trying to be all fancy and add a map on my blog and instead have deleted my last post of Luang Prabang in Laos (which included beautiful pics of a waterfall) and have an annoyingly unwanted map at the top of my blog.   I DO NOT HAVE THE PATIENCE FOR THIS RIGHT NOW!!!

WOW!!!

Hello All!

I am in Laos now.  I had a fabulous few days in the south on Phi Phi Island!!  There is a certain edge to being so far out because the only way to leave the island is to take an hour and half ferry ride.  I was very concious of doing my best to not aquire and injuries!!  The day on the boat tour was amazing!! Spending the day on the water boating around all the islands was beautiful.  The first stop was Monkey Island.  The island is basically uninhabitable but there's a short white sandy beach.  The monkies are very friendly and come down to the beach for pictures and are very friendly.  I even saw one monkey drink out of a girls water bottle.  I snorkeled for the first time and it was a spectacular experience, possibly the highlight of my day!  The visibility was amazing and the sea life is incredible!!  We also had fun kyaking.  To wrap the day up we went to Maya Bay and took in the spectacular views of the bay where The Beach was filmed.  Then we headed back for home and enjoyed a lovely rice dish while taking in the sunset.  All in all it was a great day!!

Also in Phi Phi I had fun dancing on the beach at night, everyone was painted with glow in the dark body paint and the music was so upbeat and vibrant you couldn't help yourself from shaking your bootie!!  I also enjoyed a lovely day on the beach and wading in the luke warm waters followed by a vigorous hike to a look out point that yeilded amaziing views of the island!!

From Phi Phi we then headed north to Laos and met up with the rest of the core group that we bonded with in Bangkok at the hostel.  It was so much fun to meet up with everyone!!  We had a great day tubing on the river which didn't really involve much tubing, more like dancing and drinking along the river with intermitent river tubing between bars.  Another day about 10 of us from the group rented motor bikes and went exploring.  It was a beautiful day to get away from the tourist trap of Vang Vieng and see the country side.  To see and appreciate the way people live in this country was really eye opening!  I read in my Lonely Planet (from 2009) that Laos is still one of the poorest nations in the world.  The bike ride was pretty incredible to take in the mountain views, like nothing I have ever seen before!  The mountains are sort of jagged mis-shaped rock like formations with jungle trees growing out of them, it's pretty cool!  It sort of felt like a video game zipping along the road (I was a passenger) dodging pot holes, on coming traffic, weaving in and out of herds of cows lazily crossing the street and negotiating the patches of road where there wasn't any road.  About half way back (we were probably an hour maybe a little more from where we started) our back tire blew out.  That was an adventure.  Stupidly, in hind-sight, we had sort of lost the group.  Half of them continued on and the other half zipped back towards home while my friend and I took our time stopping and taking pictures.  So here we are, literally in the middle of no where and it's going to start getting dark in about an hour pushing the bike towards home.  Those little mo-peds weigh a lot more than they look.   I had to take matters into my own hands because I knew that at that rate we would NEVER make it back and stuck my thumb out and starting hitching for a ride.  Luckily a nice man came with his truck and picked us up and took us the the lame bike back to town.  But the adventure doesn't stop there, once we got in we had to hold on for dear life.  The driving style in Laos is pretty reckless.  So we were both trying not to fall out of the back of the little pick-up truck and also hold onto the bike so it wouldn't fall out the back either.  We eventually got back and managed to not fall out but at one point I am pretty sure that I was having an out of body experience!!  We were lucky that nothing really bad happened and now it makes for a good story I suppose.

Today we took a mini-van up north to Luang Prabang which is the 2nd largest city in Laos.  The ride here was hair raising.  We basically had to cross the mountains and the entire trip we were on a cliff side.  There is no middle line, people are driving pretty fast, there are pot holes and large oncoming trucks heading your way.  I am afraid of heights and was trying my best to not have a panic attack but eventually I just gave in.  I knew that the driver drove that same road everyday and I finally relaxed and took in the amazing views!!  The mountains are so lush here and it really is like a jungle and is was pretty incredible to drive through the mountain villages!!

That's all for now...  :-)

I really don't know where to begin...!

Hello everyone!

There have been several times that I have wanted to sit down and update you all on everything that I have been up to but I honestly don't know where to start!  I had a great finish to my Euro-Adventures.  The highlight was taking a ferry across the North Sea from Holland to England to catch my flight out of London to make my way south to Bangkok.  I missed my train thus missed my ferry and was in a sleepy port town with about 5 hrs to kill.  I tucked myself in a pub that had wifi and met some locals.  The time went fast.  The ferry was really cool, it wasn't much cheaper than a flight and took WAY longer but it was such a cool experience.  It came equipped with my very own sleeping cabin, had a bar, restaurant, lounge and some shops.  I sorta felt like  I was on the Titanic, thank god we were able to dodge any iceburgs!!  But anyhow it was an adventure and a half!  Missing my train and ferry was my fist big travel mis-hap and I survived.  After the initial heart attack I just made the best out of it.

Ok, so to bring you all up to current time.  I arrived in Bangkok and was very organized getting to my hostel.  I lucked out with the hostel I chose (it was very highly rated on hostelbookers.com) and well the ride has pretty much been a roller coaster since I arrived!  At some point between Bangkok and the island in the south I realised that I was having the time of my life.  I keep having the time of my life and it keeps continuing on like a snow ball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger.

The vibe of some of the backpackers I met in the hostel was so awesome, it was like an immediate click!!  I went to see some absolutely amazing temples in Bangkok and took a zillion pictures, to be posted on facebook soon!  I went to a ginormous shopping center, with entire floors dedicated to electronics only (for example).  I have bartered with tuk tuk drivers and one night a huge group of us hired 3 tuk tuks between the group and raced to our final destination; wheelies and all.  At one point I thought that I might actually die but it was so hilariously funny that I couldn't be bothered with minding!  Bangkok is supposed to be the biggest party in all of Asia for Halloween and a few people staying at the hostel threw a great party!!  Once of the best parties of my life!!  Everyone was dressed up in what they could throw together and there were a few artists doing face painting.  It was truly and epic night!!

I am now in the south on the Ko Phi Phi island.  The same island where the tsunami hit 4 years ago.  It is chilling to look in the direction of where the tsunami hit, like what you see on the infamous video footage taken from that tragic day.  You can still see the beach town slowly rebuilding itself but really you couldn't tell if you didn't know otherwise.  The Thai people are absolutely amazing people!  They are so sweet, friendly and happy people.  I feel completely safe and have gotten sharper with my bargaining skills and attempts at not being ripped off.  It a weird way it is part of the charm of being in Thailand.  In Bangkok there were always these most adorable little girls trying to sell you roses and you couldn't resist because they were so cute and knowing the fact that they couldn't go to bed until they sold all of their roses you just had to buy one.  We found a great little restaurant in Bangkok as well where you could get scrumptous traditional Thai food for 1 dollar and the owner loved showing us his card tricks.  His slight of hand really was magic and he had the best smile I have ever seen!!  Kind of reminded me of the laughing buddha.  He loved blowing our minds and the applause that we would always shower over him because he was so good at it!!

Tomorrow we have (when I say we, I have attached myself to a group of travelers, 2 brits, 1 other american and a swiss guy) booked a boat tour where they take you snorkeling, to a bunch of different islands, caves, monkey island and we will watch the sunset from the island where the film The Beach was filmed.  I am excited.  It truly is a lush country!  You are definitely out in the jungle admist all of the wonder and rawness of the wild nature!! 

Right  now I am sitting on the porch of my guest house, the staff (all Thai) are having a mini party listening to the Cranberries, there's a cat crashed out on the wooden floor and I can hear the crickets and frogs making noises (and other random jungle animals) all around me.  One of the things that is so cool about this island is that it is so small that there aren't any cars, just bikes.  You can literally walk everywhere!  When we arrived there are hoards of people trying to sell you accomdations.  They have a wall full of flyers for each place and once you decide where you want to stay you go to a table and pay for it right there on the dock.  Then there's a guy who comes with a make shift wheel barrel who carts your bags to your guest house.  It's crazy!  I love how raw it is here, it's an adventure, it's beautiful, breathtaking and mind blowing and the type of people that this place attracts is something special.  This truly has been magic for me!!  I am extending my ticket to Australia because 3 weeks here just isnt' going to be enough!!  I am sorry for the run on, un-organized, flowing straight from my head to the keyboard type of telling my story but it's the best I can do at the moment.  I love you all and don't want to think about how much I miss you because it will hurt to much!!!  It's difficult to be so far away from home but in a spectacular way!! 

that's all for now...

Exploring Holland...

Hi All!!

On Friday Harry dropped me off at my hostel in Amsterdam.  Even though I have been traveling solo for almost 4 months now I have to admit that it was nice to have my friend take me there and walk me to the door (and of course help with the heavy bags!). 

In Amsterdam I met up with a girl, Erin from Australia, whom I met in Barcelona.  We had two good nights in Amsterdam.  It is a crazy little city!!  During the day it is very charming with all of the canals and candy cane house-like buildings.  It's weird though because walking through Amsterdam's streets I sort of felt like I was in a movie set, it didn't seem real.  Even though the buildings are of an old fashioned style they look so new.  One of the things that I found most bizaar about Amsterdam was that the buildings were so squished together they were leaning, either to one side or forwards.  It is like the builders didn't use levels... strange.  For a party city I found it to be quite clean compared to cities in Portugal or Spain.  However the dutch are very germanic and the entire country is pretty much spotless!  Amsterdam was also seemingly really quiet for a "party" city.  It was funny to walk around and enjoy the random groups of people laughing boisterously obviously enjoying some of Amsterdam''s "goodies".  At night Amsterdam lit up with all of the neon lights, for me it was a very sterile play ground for adults.  All in all I enjoyed it but to be honest found it a bit of a strange environment. 

Yesterday Erin and I headed to Rotterdam.  It was nice to get away from the crowded and crazy Amsterdam and chill out in the quiet city.  It was a Sunday night so there wasn't a whole lot going on but we managed to find a small bar that had cheap beer and live music!

Today we are in Utrecht.  It's very cool so far with a young vibe to it!  Lots of students and a beautiful cathedral, the tallest in Holland.  We didn't do a whole lot today but are hoping to hit the city hard tomorrow.  Wednesday I am off to London and Sunday I fly to Thailand!!  It hasn't really sunk in yet!!  I feel like I am almost on auto-pilot!!  But I am really looking forward to getting back in the sun and exploring the beautiful beaches that Thailand is so well known for!!

That's all for now...

It's nippy in the north!!

I am currently staying with long time friends of the family Harry and Nicole in Eindhoven which is about an hour and a half drive from Amsterdam.  It's great I met Harry over 10 years ago in Mexico (my first out of the country trip with my grandmother when I was a young girl which was an experience that sparked my enthusiasm for travel!) 

It has been great to stay with my "european family".  I have my very own room, free use of a washer and dryer and the fridge!!  They are so sweet, Nicole even asked me which food I don't like prior to stocking the kitchen!!  They are so sweet and it is these simply luxuries that come to mean so much when you have been "on the road" for 6 wks!  I think that they wonder what is wrong with me because I have been sleeping so much and actually at times I wonder myself! :-)  But for whatever reason I just sleep, sleep, sleep!  Today we went to a beautiful city on the southwest coast of the Netherlands which was lined with an amazing soft sandy beach along the North Sea.  I had the best nap of my life on that beach today!!  The sun was out and it was warm, though I and everyone else on the beach was fully clothed.  Still, surprisingly great weather for Holland in October!! 

I survived my night's stay in the Madrid airport.  I was better prepared this time which was a bonus!  Also another traveler in Barcelona informed me of a very useful website called sleeping in airports.com  I checked it out and it really came in handy!  I probably only got 3.5 hrs of sleep on the hard granite floor but it was restful then followed by a 2 hr. nap on the plane and another 1 hr. sleep in the car and another 3 hr. nap at the house, like I said, I just can't get enough sleep these days!!  Resting up for the adventures that lay ahead I think!!

For those of you who aren't in the loop I am heading to Thailand in 2 wks.  I will be traveling in Thailand for 3 wks. then onto Australia!!  It was an idea that I had kept in the back of my mind and while on this trip I decided to go for it!!  I applied for a working/holiday visa in Australia and was approved so I will be able to work while I am there to continue to fund my traveling.  At this point I have submitted a few applications to some riding stables and have a connection to a racing barn in Australia as well.  Who knows though, I may end up pooring pints in a bar...  I am pretty much open to whatever job I can get that pays decent!!  However I am really starting to miss riding, I mean a lot!!!!  In fact it is starting to cause physical pain like going through withdrawels or something so I need to do something about that pronto!!

Tomorrow I am getting shots for my trip to Asia, I hate needles but it has to be done!!  Then Nicole and I are going to a friend's farm.  They are show jumpers and the father won the individual silver medal in show jumping 10 yrs ago!!  I am so excited to see their amazing farm and meet them!!!

That's all for now...

Lisbon, the city of vampires!!

I am really liking Lisbon.  I am here for a week, I just didn't have the energy to cram pack a lot of traveling within one week so I decided to just stay in one place.  Because I am staying in Lisbon for several days in a row I decided to to work at my hostel in exchange for a free room during my stay.  It has been really cool working at the hostel.  I am making beds which is funny because I don't habitually make my own bed at home so I find it a little ironic.  Being apart of the "staff" has been really fun!  There are several people working here that are from all over and getting to know them and socialize with them has been the best part! 

Lisbon is crazy!  I came here and my plan was to chill out, relax and rejuvenate for this entire week.  My average bed time has been 6am!!  During the day the city sort of sleeps but at night it completely comes alive and the streets fill with people!!  It's been really fun but I have been struggling to keep up with it, catching a few hours of nap here and there.  :-)

I have made a friend with a guy named Chris who works at the hostel.  He has been living in Lisbon for 4 months.  He is a very cool guy and it has been great to attach myself to him as his shadow.  He had a friend visiting from Australia so I tagged along with them for a great day at the beach and another day where we took the train to a great beach town where we rented bikes and peddled along the coast for some amazing views of the Atlantic!!  On the last night of Chris' friend's visit we had a big dinner party at a friend's house.  It was the highlight of my time in Lisbon!  The old building has so much character.  It was once a university building converted into an apartment building.  The party took place on the top floor so we had the opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine on the roof for an amazing view of the city!!  It was so much fun to meet and party with the locals!  Portuguese are super friendly and nice.  Very warm and a great sense of humor!!  We made so much food and I ate way too much!!  I actually ate so much that it hurt!  Then after the big meal we went to a park that overlooked the city and the castle of Lisbon on a hill opposite us.  The castle was showered in warm lights that made it look like it was glowing in the dark of night.  The park was full of people!!  Really cool!!

Yesterday I had a very chilled out day including naps, some good home cooking and a movie.  All of the theaters show movies in their original language with subtitles.  I can't remember the last time I went to the movies, it was great!!

Lisbon has a certain authentic charm to it.  It's a little rough around the edges, if you will, but has such a laid back vibe filled with many creative people.  I really really like it!!  So far it is one of my all time favorite cities including Granada, Spain and Copenhagen, Denmark!!  Love these cities for the local people, music scene and creative vibe!!

Tomorrow I leave for the Netherlands..

I have never been so excited to do laundry!!!

I am in Madrid now after a few nights in Seville.  I am completely out of under-roos (sorry for the To Much Info) so have given in to doing my laundry and am waiting for my clothes so I have a quick minute to update y'all!

Granada was awesome, I completely loved it there and it is my favorite city in Spain by far!!  I had a LONG first day.  After 12.5 hrs on the bus through the night then following 2 walking tours which equaled about 7 hrs walking in total I was pretty exhausted but really enjoyed myself!  It's crazy because the "free" walking tours were lead by other traveling foreigners who came to Granada and just never left.  They were free-lance tour guides and it was cool to see Granada sort of through the backdoor.  :-)  Granada is at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains and is spread across a valley which yielded beautiful views from every angle.  Granada is known for it's great tapas which was fabulous for the budget backpacker!  You could get a snack with your drink for about 2 dollars.  Three of these and you were set!!!
I think what I found most fascinating about Granada was that at one time it consisted of three different religions co-existing in peace: Muslamic, Jewish and Christian prior to the Inquisition of Isabelle and Ferdinand.  This was also a very monumental point in history. In 1492 Isabelle and Ferdinand conquered Granada which was the last muslim community in Europe to be over-thrown.  If you weren't a Christian you had three choices, convert, live in exile or to be killed.  Once a city was conquered the mosques were either destroyed or converted into cathedrals except for the Alhambra.  It was such a beautiful palace that Isabelle and Ferdinand decided to live in it as their own (after making some minor modifications). Another important thing that happened in 1492 was that the Americas were discovered by Columbus.  He went to the Alhambra to ask for financial support for his voyage from Isabelle and Ferdinand making this a very monumental point in Western civilization as we know it today!   There is a saying according to my guide book that if you haven't seen the Alhambra then you aren't really living and I can honestly say that it was pretty incredible.  By far the most impressive and elaborate palace I have seen so far.  In addition to taking in the amazement of the Alhambra I met two pairs of travelers on the hike up the hill to the entrance.  One German couple and two french boys.  We grouped up for the day and it was so much fun!  They were all funny and very sweet, which really added to the whole experience! 

The Alambra from the Generalife Gardens

From Granada I did a 1 night stay in Nerja which was a beautiful beach town.  It was quiet and very pretty.  The hostel manager was Argentinian and he was very generous and hospitable.  When he closed the front desk we met on the roof terrace and enjoyed some Tinto de Verano (summer wine which is chilled red wine, ice and lemon soda.  Very refreshing!).  He had set up a little table with clothe and all, two wine glasses and a plate of bread, cheese and ham.  The only thing the lovely little display was missing was some candles!  :-)  But we just sat in the warm night under the stars talking about places we have been, places we want to go and about ourselves.  Very cool evening.  Once we were done with the wine he took me for a mid-night tour of his town.  We went to a hole in the wall Flamenco bar that only the locals know of and I heard some amazing guitar!!  Then he took me to some pretty look out spots along the coast of the beach where there was plankton lighting up the waves as they crashed along the shore, wow!  I really wanted to stay another night but I am running out of time and really wanted to get to Seville and Madrid with enough time to see them!

A view of Nerja

Seville was fun!  I did another "free" walking tour provided by the hostel which was very informational.  Seville is another very cool city.  After the tour 5 other girls and I went to get some tapas.  We were pretty much inseparable after that moment!!  We nick-named ourselves the Sisterhood of the Eternally Lost!!!  After tapas we walked through the shopping center, I broke down and did a little shopping but honestly I am so tired of my clothes by now so my wardrope needed a little refreshing!!  Then later we went out in search for a Reggae club.  Funny funny night, we got lost for like 2 hrs and were walking, walking and walking but thoroughly enjoying ourselves and shared lots of laughs.  The next day we were all feeling pretty rough and we didn't accomplish much other than food, more shopping and basically just wandering around the city.  They were so much fun, 2 of the girls were from Australia (but traveling separately) and 2 girls from Malta on a 2 wk holiday.  Very sweet girls and lots of fun!!

Now in Madrid, got here late last night.  Walked around for 2 hrs trying to find hostel.  Finally broke down and paid for a cab.  Disappointed in myself for giving into this luxury/cost but was getting so frustrated I wanted to cry or kill someone, it was getting late, my back and shoulders were aching, I was exhausted and I just had nothing left in me!  O'well.

Ok, laundry is done.  Hope you all are enjoying the good stuff!!!

From top to bottom in 12.5 hrs!!!

I am currently in Granada, Spain.  I left San Sebastian yesterday at 6:00pm and arrived in Granada at 6:30am this morning!!  It was a long bus ride but one's got to do what one can to save $$  and the buses are cheaper than the trains and I figured that by taking a night bus I also save on accommodations for the night too!!  Yes, it was a long ride but not as bad as I had dreaded it would be.

I spent 2 nights in San Sebastian, northern Spain is absolutely beautiful with the Pyrenees on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other!!  I didn't do much there other than deflate on the beach.  :-)  I met up with my friend Lee from England and we were camping.  He and a group of friends are camping in the south of France for 3 wks. at a little surfing town and so we decided to head back up to France (only about an hour and a half drive from San Sebastian) and join their crew!

I stayed longer in France that I had originally intended but it was so nice to just relax and camp out after all the city touring I have been doing the past several weeks.  The campsite was very pretty, set among the forest and only a short walk through the woods and over a sand dune to the beach.  The beaches were VERY nice!!  The beach line stretched out 100 miles along the coast and the weather was perfect and there were wild bunnies at the campground that you could practically hand feed, lots of red squirrels and birds who were eager to eat bread crumbs!  I had a great time meeting up with Lee's friends from England and I even tried surfing a few times but really it was more of me flopping and splashing in the water with a surf board, lots of laughter and a little screaming, hahaha!!!

Now, because I stayed in France longer than I intended I will have to shorten my stay in Granada, Seville and Madrid but only by a couple of days.  The hostel I am staying at offers a free walking tour and a free street art tour.  I plan to do both today.  :)

That's all for now :-)

Barcelona!!!

I have made it to Spain safe and sound!  My trip started off eventful...  My flight didn't get in until 2am and I really didn't want to be wandering around Barcelona in the middle of the night trying to find my hostel and didn't want to pay for a cab so I opted to sleep in the airport.  (I am trying to be a real hardcore backpacker but at heart I am only a barbie backpacker, lol!)  I got about 5 hrs of sleep using my day pack as a pillow, my towel as a sheet and spooned my big bag.  I was right along with some other travelers and a few homeless I think.  It wasn't so bad but I was exhausted the next day!! 

Barcelona has been growing on me.  The hostel is nice but not down a very nice street.  It's a little creepy at during the day and down right uncomfortable to walk through at night so it has thrown me off a little.  I basically just walk down the street looking straight ahead or at the ground with a pissed off look on my face and you pretty much get left alone but I never go out alone at night!  If I make it through Barcelona without getting pick pocketed I will feel accomplished!  I made it through Rome so I am hopeful but there are so many people at the hostel that have been pick pocketed and one girl had her purse strap sliced off of her!!

Ok but here are the fun things that I have done:  laid on the beach drinking beer and working on my tan, wandered through the Gothic section of the city (so many amazing buildings!) looking for a tapas bar and stumbled across a delicious Cuban restaurant and ate there instead, drank wine at the beach at night with friends and went for a swim, had a relaxing day wandering through the city park that had a nice little lake and a beautiful fountain, went to the Picasso Museum, found a hole in the wall burger joint at 4 am (literally you had to knock on the steel garage door and someone would open a small door that you practically crawled through that had the best drunk food, everything shuts at 3 am so pretty sure it was illegal), went to Monjuic and enjoyed walking through the lush park and taking in all the amazing sights from atop the castle, went to the Gauidi park and cathedral.

Barcelona has been fun and once I adjusted I have really enjoyed myself.  It is a major party town and I have had a lot of fun and met a lot of cool people traveling!  We even got harassed by the local residents loudly wandering down the wrong street one night looking for a pub.  They don't like it if you are loud and will throw buckets of water down on you from their balconies and empty beer cans, crazy!! 

Lake Garda in Italy was absolutely amazing!!  I loved it and it was one of the more beautiful things I have seen on this trip thus far!!  I fell in love with Italy and Spain has some big shoes to fill!!

San Sebastian tomorrow, hoping to catch up on some rest while laying on the beach and give a go at surfing!

Limone on Lake Garda!!

Florence and Venice

Ok, so I have a lot to write!!  I am SO tired and I have an early morning but I am determined to update you all on what I've been up to!  I LOVE ITALY!!!!!!!!

I had an amazing first day in Florence.  My hostel provided a free 2hr walking tour and so it was a no brainer!  I really enjoyed the tour and learning more about the city and it's history.  I also had the pleasure of tasting some authentic Florentine Gelato!!  While on the tour I met two other girls from the hostel and at the end of the tour we decided to pal up and go see some sights on our own.  It was all our first day in Florence!!  One girl, Maddy, is Australian and the other girl is Mary from Canada (Montreal).  We went to the Palitini Galleria which had so many amazing paintings!!  I am learning slowly more and more about art and art history along my travels.  We then went to the top of the Duomo in St. Peter's Cathedral.  Another hot treck to the top but well worth the amazing views of Florence!!  Then we strolled through the market and I had a mini splurge on a beautiful leather jacket! As Maddy said, when in Rome or two hours from Rome!  lol  Then we enjoyed making our own picnic in the Michealangelo Plazza for the sunset.  All in all I think that we were out walking around and taking it all in for about 11 hrs!!  It was so spontaneous and super fun!!

The next day Maddy and I took the train to Sienna.  What a lovely town!!  It is very chill and filled with many beautiful builings and an amazing cathedral!!  We got a huge sandwhich from one of the deli's and then walked through a park to take in the lovely views of Tuscany.

The following day the three of us girls went to Cinque Terre which roughly translates to the 5 earths.  Cinque Terre is basically 5 small towns set in on the cliffside and you can hike through all 5 towns alon the coast with amazing views!!  It was a fairly long train ride (3hrs) but well worth it!!  We got dropped off at the southern most town and it took us about 5 hrs to get to the last town where we then rewarded ourselves by taking a swim in the Ludriatic Sea.  The water was the perfect temperature, refreshing but not too cold.  On the train leaving Florence we met another Australian, Chris and he joined our group.  Very fun people!

Then on my way to Venice I met Chris at the train station and we took the train together and have been spending the past two days in Venice together.  Nice to have a companion.  Marry (from the hostel in Florence) and 4 Swedes that I met in the Berlin hostel all met me here as well.  It is so much fun to meet people along the way and then coordinate to meet up with them later!!  Maddy is going to school in the Netherlands and so I am planning on meeting up with her when I go there in October!!

Venice is lovely.  There are many shops all of which are a tease to my wallet!!  There is also a lot of glass items in lots of the shops.  The glass is made in Murano which is an island in the lagoons just outside of Venice.  It is crazy how this city is literally built on water!!  There are so many gothic and baroque style buildings that really are candy to the eye!!  Today we got lost which was fabulous because we saw so many pretty things!  Mary and I sent Chris along his way and then took a ferry to Lido where we rented bikes and rode around and got some dinner.  A very fun day!! 

Tomorrow we plan on going to Lake Gardo early and then hopefully we can pop through Verona on our way back for some dinner!! Very excited!!  It's my last full day in Italy so I am planning on making the most of it!!

That's all for now :-)

FIRENZE (Florence)!!!

Yeah, I have arrived in Florence!!!  I have been most excited to see Florence because I have heard so many wonderful things about it and really can't think of hearing of a single complaint from anyone who has been here.  We had a fun train ride from Rimini to Bologna (a little over an hour) where we connected to our train to Florence.  The seats were sold out so we had to stand but I opted to sit at the back of the train on the floor instead.  :)  Otherwise getting here was a piece of cake.  I would say that we have mastered the trains in Italy!

I haven't done much since we arrived today.  Just relaxed at the hostel and read my book.  The next three days will be full of sight seeing and getting in as much as I can!!

My last day in Rome I went to the Vatican City.  I am glad that I did because I would have regretted not going and I never had any doubts about wanting to go it was just that once I got there I realised that I really didn't have the energy to deal with the heat and ALL THE TOURISTS!!!!!   OMG!!  I went to the top of St. Peter's Cathedral which was an ordeal.  There was a huge line and a zillion stairs to climb (more than the Cliffs of Mon Sofie!!).  Towards the top you had to walk bent over a little to one side because we were getting close to the top of the dome.  It was very tight and at some points you could barely fit width wise, there were nothing but steps up and up and up and lines of people in front of you and behind you and it was SO hot!!  I was feeling a little claustrophobic!  But once to the top, it really was a gorgeous sight over looking the entirety of the massive city of Rome!  Then I went to the Vatican, at this point it was in the afternoon and thankfully there wasn't any line but there were still hoards of tourists (it's to be expected)!  The Vatican Museum was very elaborate with all of the wall paintings, tapestries and art.  It was very cool to see and of course I got to see the Sistine Chapel up close and personal in real life!!  That was very neat but at this point in my trip at Rome I really didn't have the energy to deal with the heat and crowds but I am glad that I pushed myself through it!

We made a quick two night stop in Rimini.  The purpose of going there was to see a castle in Urbino.  It is supposed to be really beautiful but honestly after Rome the beach was to tempting and we opted to chill out at the beach all day yesterday instead.  It was nice to regain a little color to my tan and relax in the sun.

The next three days I will be busy taking in all that Florence has to show me, super exited!!

That's all for now, ciao!!

I was a shiny white girl in Rome today...

The Colosseum with a little tongue!  :-)

Wow, what an amazing city!!  I LOVE Rome!!!  It is not possible to walk down any street without seeing a beautiful monument, plaza or building!! 

The Trevi Fountain!!

My first full day as I wrote prior I went to the Colleseum and the Palatine (Roman ruins).  This really set the scene for the rest of Rome for me, it was really spectacular!!!

The Ronman Forum

The Roman ruins

Yesterday Gemma and I went museum hopping.  It was so great!!  We went to the National Museum of Antique Art and the Borgese and the Capitoline.  Three museums in one day was a little over-ambitious.  I really think that two museums in one day is my max!  There is so much to absorb and take it!!  We saw Bernini sculptures which were absolutely amazing, the detail and how he could make stone look so soft and real!!  We also saw some amazing paintings by Caravaggio, Guido, Raphael just to name a few.  It really was so cool to see these original paintings in real life!!  It really makes me want to learn more about art and art history!

Today we went to a flea market which is supposed to be one of the biggest flea markets in Rome (or Italy or Europe or the world, lol!!  Gemma can't remember) but he point is that it was immense!!  But I had some fun looking through all the antiques and found a few could deals on a few items for myself.  Gotta practice those barter skills ha ha!  Then we found a narrow street that jetted off to the side.  There was a huge tourist group and guide walking out from this street and it looked so beautiful so Gemma and I decided to take a little side track and stroll down there to see what there was.  It was so pretty, a very narrow Italian street with some quiant restaurants.  It was pretty close to lunch time and with all that bargaining we had really worked up an appetite.  We ordered a delicious pizza and it really was delicious!!!  After we had a moment to rest and digest our food a little I decided to explore a little more.  So I just continued walked down this beautiful street, I didn't know exactly where I was going but I had a general idea of the direction I was heading.  I came to the end of the sweet little street directly to the Tevere river that runs north and south through the west side of Rome.  Perfecto!  So even though it wasn't a direct track back to the hostel I took a very scenic stroll along the river.  So pretty!  Then once I crossed it I lazily and with a lot of twist and turns was sort of heading in the direction back towards the hostel.  It was so great, if I saw something that looked interesting I would turn down the street and check it out.  If I heard some pretty music I would side track that way and low and behold I stumbled on to the Pantheon, wow!!  I came across many magnificent plazas with gorgeous fountains and always stopped to refill my water bottle for some refeshment.  It was lovely and another amazing day in Rome!!

I am very hot and am constantly sticky, shiny and vary degrees of sweat is dripping off of me somewhere but I don't care, I'm in Rome!!!!  Plus after a summer working in Florida I can handle anything!!

Tomorrow the Vatican City!!!!!!

That's all for now!!!

ROMA!!!

Just a quick check in.  The hostel I am at charges for internet, frown face! 

Gemma and I arrived in Rome yesterday.  Berlin was really cool!!  The history behind the Berlin Wall and the divide betweed East and West is still very evident in this city.  It is crazy to think of all the people who lost their lives trying to escape across the border or who were trying to help others escape and the fact that the wall was only torn down 20 yrs ago (or 30 can't remember...)!!  You can still feel the differences between East and West but in a different way.  The eastside of Berlin has a lot of modern structures, and architectual buffs dream while the West feels older.  There was a lot of money and focus in to giving the eastside a face lift due to the fact that so many of the building were bombed and had been let fall apart and become completely dilapidated.  Now mostly all you can see of evidence of the old Baroque buildings is only sections or small portions that somehow survived.  There are a lot of artists in Berlin and a lot of "alternative" art, it is very cool.  Not to mention a very fun night life!!  We met up with a group of Swedes traveling and all went out one night, it was SO much fun!!

Yesterday Gemma and I left Berlin to come here.  It was very stressful because we didn't really give ourselves quite enough time and when we go to the airport there was the biggest line to get your ticket that I have ever seen and it didn't move!!  But we managed to make our flight thank god!!

Rome is E-MAZING!!!!  It is really hot here but I don't mind it so much, kinda reminds me of Florida.  A big group of us from the hostel hung out and socialized here in the lounge then went out, it was so much fun! I met people from all over!!!  It was great fun and there are so many people out at night!! 

Today I went to the Colleseum and walked through the Roman ruins and it was absolutely spectacular!!!  The Romans did not screw around, omg!!!  Pics coming!!  :)

Now onto the next leg of my adventure...

I am sitting in the Copenhagen Airport and only have a few minutes before I need to start heading towards my gait...

I had such a great time in Copenhagen, I really really like this city!!  There's just someting about it, I can't quite put my finger on one exact thing that it is but I could see myself living in this city (or spending more time in it at the very least!). 

Anyhow, I am now off to Berlin and the next part of my trip.  3 nights in Berlin, 2 wks in Italy, 3 wks in Spain and 1 wk in Portugal!!!  That's a lot and from here on out I won't be staying with friends, I will be hosteling it for the next 6+ wks and part of it will be with my cousin (Berlin & Italy) and part of it I will be solo.  No more of the luxuries of staying with friends, in their spare rooms or on the couch.  No more free laundry services.  Now onto the backpacking!!

I will try to keep you all updated on how things are going, every hostel has WiFi so shouldn't be impossible.  I would love to go into more detail on what I had been up to in Copenhagen!!!





Bon Voyage xo

Copenhagen, Europe's best kept secret!!

I love it here!!  Copenhagen is a very cool city, it has a certain vibe about it that is very relaxed in the sense of what is acceptable.  You are bound to see people doing some strange things but at the same time it is very open to individuality and self-expression, which I like.  I think that maybe it is because it is a small city and there are so many different type of people in it.  I love the buildings and statues here!  The red brick buildings with the tarnished, green copper accents really makes for a sight!!  Sometimes I find it hard choosing when to try to capture these buildings on my camera or to just take a mental picture because I just don't think that the pictures will do it justice but at the same time I want to share all that I am seeing with everyone.  But I highly recommend this city, it is so cool!  It is crazy on Saturday nights it comes alive and turns into a huge party!!  The last two Saturday nights I fell asleep to the city's buzzing sound.  It's cool, you can here live music, people talking, shouting and laughing.  You can really tell that people are out and about having a good time enjoying themselves!!  Then on Sunday the whole city sleeps, most things are closed and it is completely quiet. 

I had a great day with Sofie and her mom.  We went to the Cliffs of Mon and Liselund in Mon an island which is on the coast in the Southeast of Denmark.  Liselund was built for some woman named Lisa, hahaha!!  I can't remember the exact history other that Hans Christen Anderson would spend his summer holidays here and I read that the forests were an inspiration to a lot of his work which I can understand because it was completely magical, like a fairytale!  The gardens were built during the Romantic Era and is one of the first gardens to be built of it's kind in Denmark.  Absolutely beautiful!!  Now it is open to the public and lots of people picnic in the park and feed the ducks from the pond.  After we walked around there and had our picnic lunch we went to the Klint Mon (cliffs of mon- mon is sort of pronounced moon) which was just around the corner by car.  There was a long staircase down and the views down were absolutely incredible!!  The cliffs were white and are made up of seashell/creatures from something like 70 million years ago!  I have never seen anything like it in my life!!  Breathtaking white cliffs with the turquoise blue ocean as the backdrop, wow!!

Liselund Forest

Klint Mon

When I got back to Copenhagen on Saturday I spent the majority of the day walking around Stroge Street which is the longest pedestrian street in the world.  It is lined with shops from Prada to trinkets and filled with lots and lots of tourists!!  There are also lots of street performers and it is fun to hear the different music and just stop and enjoy it!  Then I met up with Eva and Peter and we went for a walk to try to take in the last of the sunny warmth the day had to offer.  We ended up in Christiana which was originally an abandoned military barracks that a group of hippies took over in the 60's/70's and sort of adopted their own "free city" with their own self-governing rules.  There are many funky buildings, lots of graffiti art and hash bars.  It was pretty cool to see something like this and it is pretty incredible that something like this exists.  There was a large wooden arbor that you walked through that said "Leaving the EU" when you entered.  It was definitely a place where "anything" goes but it was very chilled out and really felt like an area where people were allowed to come and just be themselves. 

Yesterday I hoofed it all around Copenhagen!!  I walked past Nyhavn (New Haven) which is a pretty little harbor that has many colorful 18th century buildings on both sides then went onto the Marble Church also called Frederick's Church which was cool and then even further to go see the Museum of the Danish Resistance.  The museum was closed but I walked around in the barracks and the bordering park-like areas that outlined the barracks.  Very nice!!

That's all for now!!

More pictures from Sweden...

360 degree views from Ven

<>

A very cool old farm building in Ven

A view from Ven

A lovely sight on the ferry coming back from Ven

Another view of Flyingem so beautiful!!

A castle near where Henrik and Harriet lived in Sweden

A view from inside the courtyard of the castle

Pics from Sweden

Henrik, the grill master cooking up a feast!!  Below is the inside of one of the stables at the famous stallion farm Flyinge in Sweden.  Built in the 1800's!  Above is the view from Henrik and Harriet's house.

One of the rings in Flyinge.  Below is the castle/museum in Malmo.

This is on the island of Ven in Sweden, the scadanavian's like their bikes!

perter jones and the lazy bandits

I stumbled across this band in a street performance yesterday while walking in Copenhagen along Stroge street. Stroge street is the world's longest pedestrian street and has many many shops, restaurants and bars! Lucky find as I thoroughly enjoyed their sound and lyrics!!

Go to their website for more music, lyrics or info : www. peterjonesmusic.net

Back in the DK!!

I (I should say we, meaning Eva and her boyfriend Peter) arrived back in Copenhagen yesterday in the late afternoon.  I am now with my friend Sofie whom I worked with in Florida.  She lives in the south of Sealand in Vordingborg.  It took a little over an hour to get here by train.  Since I have arrived I feel as if I have been treated like royalty by her family.  They have a beautiful farm!!  They have owned it for 8 years and built the house on it and did all the landscaping themselves!!  It is like a park with all the flowers and the vegetable garden and rock landscapes.  Her parents don't speak much English and Sofie has been an excellent translator :)  Once Sofie picked me up we came back to her parent's home and caught up, the weather is Denmark has been fantastic today!!  The sun is out and very warm.  Her parent's had prepared a delicious lunch.  It seems to be very traditional for open sandwiches to eat at lunch.  I really like the nut/rye bread that is customary here.  Then you have your choice of meats and vegetables to add and it is quite tasty.  Then Sofie and I just sat outside and caught up.  It is so great to see her and it has been over a year since she left Florida and we had lots to talk about.  Then later we ate dinner in the garden.  Her parents had prepared a delicious dinner that was more like a feast fit for a king!!  Since I have been in Denmark I have been eating so much due to the generous hospitality of everyone!! After dinner Sofie and I went for a short bike ride around the neighborhood.  They live in a very beautiful area and there are trails that lead all the way down to the water.  Because they are so far south (nearly at the bottom) the water is not that far away!  There is a beautiful forest area that borders their property and a sweet little river and lake nearby.  Very pretty!!

I had a wonderful time in Sweden!!  Henrik and Harriett were so gracious and kind!  It was great to be among Eva's family.  Her older sister, Sheila and Eva's niece, Laura accompanied us.  Sheila actually picked us up in Copenhagen and drove us out to Sweden.  It was so nice to be with their family and made me miss my own. 

One of the days we went to and island called Ven which could only be reached by ferry.  It was sort of like Vashon but even smaller!  More like a village filled mainly by farms but it was so pretty with the 360 degree view of the water!!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves walking around and taking in the sights!!  It is known as the Paradise Island of Sweden.  The ferry to the island was much smaller than what we are used to in the Pacific Northwest.  It held mostly foot passengers and could probably hold 8 cars max.  Most people had to sit outside for the ferry crossing which was about 30 mins.  Thankfully it was warm out.

Yesterday we spent some time in Malmo, Sweden.  A very cool small city.  I absolutely love the old historic buildings in Europe!!  We went to the castle in Malmo which was very cool.  As far as castles go it really doesn't compare to the ones I saw in England but who's comparing, right!?  But they had an exhibit that showed the history of Sweden with artifacts dating back to 800 B.C.  The exhibit sort of showed the timeline from the Stone age to 1800's which is around the time the castle was built.  The castle was last used as a jail in the 1800's and they had a section that portrayed the stories and lives of the different inmates and prisoners.  Crazy what life was like back in those days!! You could get arrested for being homeless!   There was also an art exhibition and we were lucky enough to stumble upon it.  It was an exhibit portraying Nelson Mandela.  Very very cool!  What an amazing man and I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience this exhibit!!  It was the first time it was being shown outside of South Africa.  There was a mock jail cell that showed you where he had spent 18 yrs!!  How that man didn't lose his mind is beyond me!!  Another section was a short wall with several phones lined up.  Each phone was a conversation re-enacting a letter that he had written with dialogue.  The prison was so strict that most of his letters never got sent but to hear his use of words and sense of expression was really amazing and awe-inspiring.  A very moving experience about a truly truly amazing man!!

I also got to see Flyinge which is a famous stallion stable that houses some of the best know stallions in Sweden.  It was a beautiful equestrian facility and the buildings were very old, dating back to the 1800's.  The property was beautifully manicured and there were several riding arenas.  So so pretty!!

Henrik and Harriet were wonderful and I feel so fortunate to have been treated like the guest of honor!  Harriett prepared an amazing dinner for us every evening and one night Henrik was the BBQ master!!  Right now I am feeling so lucky to have so many people treat me so wonderful!  It is great to be taken under their wing and shown such a great time!!  Every now and again I have to pinch myself that this is all real!

I am very tired and it's late!!  Traveling is work but I feel that I have to write every several days so as to not forget to leave anything out!!  I like writing when things are a little more fresh in my mind.  I am back in Copenhagen in 2 days and will catch you all up on what I have been up to in south Sealand.


That's all for now...

SWEDEN

So...

I have just arrived in Sweden this evening. It is a short drive to my friend Eva's parent's house here in Sweden. It was only an hour and most of that drive was over a bridge. I last saw Eva about 15 years ago when she came and stayed with us in Quilcene for a summer. I promised her I would come to Denmark and visit her and well, it only took me this long! But it has been great to see her and even though it was about half of my life-time ago that we saw each other it's like we haven't missed a beat. Her step-father is Henrik Johansen who is a dressage trainer. My mom came to Sweden and spent a summer here working with him and apprenticing 18 years ago (this was also when Denmark beat Germany in the world cup soccer!)!! My mom started riding with Henrik in the early '90s and it is a very cool story because one of Henrik's students had sold her horse to someone in the states and this was Chivas my mom's horse!! So when she heard that there was a Danish trainer coming to her area she was intrigued and started riding with him and to make a long story short Henrik knew Chivas!! So it is a small world and the dressage world is even smaller!! If you are interested in learning more about Henrik's training go to his website and check it out: www.positiveriding.com

Their house is beautiful!! It is set among farms and bright yellow crop fields and there is a lovely view from almost every window in each room in the house. There is even a pool in the house!! It is great to see these guys and even though it has been years the connection between our families is a bond that knows no time. Henrik and Harriett had just returned from the Danish Championships and they got home at just about the same time we arrived so it was a little chaotic but Henrik was sure to give me a tour of their lovely home and make me a gin a' tonic that was perfection!!

I spent a great day in Copenhagen yesterday and can't wait to get back and see more!! After staying at the farm for a couple days my friend Maiken dropped me off at her apartment in the city on Friday evening. It is perfectly located and within walking distance to everything!! I had a nice time walking around that evening, I went back to the town square and took in all the great street performances and found a cheap yet yummy pizza shop and got a slice for dinner then stopped by the local super market to pick up some groceries to hold me over for a few days. :) I had a great time in Copenhagen yesterday! I went to the Botanical Garden that has thousands of different species of plants. It was a nice sunny day to be outside and taking in all the sights and the garden was really pretty!! Then I went to the State Museum of Fine Arts. I think I spent about 3 hrs in there taking in all the art work until my head started spinning!! There was a lot of local Danish art and several different exhibits from different time periods and genres of art. I think my favorite was the modern art and I fell in love with Mattisse! Of course I enjoyed all the old paintings from the collections of classic art as well. So much history!! I love it!! Then I walked through the King's Garden on my way back to my friends apartment and did a quick change and met up with Eva at Norreborge Park for an outdoor music festival!! Great fun and so cool to meet all her friends and just hang out!! Copenhagen truly is a lovely city!! It's not as big as London but I have to admit that since I will be navigating it mostly solo I am kind of glad. There's lots going on and it has a really cool vibe!!

I am in Sweden 'til Wednesday and am meeting up with another girl, Sofie, whom I worked with in Florida. She lives south of Copenhagen by about 2 hrs. and she will show me around that area. Then I will be back in Copenhagen to see some more stuff!! So cool, I will take pics and post them later!!

The rest of my trip is starting to iron out a little bit. I have made all of the hostel reservations for Italy except Venice. Then from Italy I go to Spain! Right now I am trying to decide whether to go to Spain for 2 or 3 weeks and then I was thinking since I am so close I might as well hit up Portugal so then I am wondering if maybe I do 2 wks in Spain and 2 wks in Portugal??? Any thoughts!

That's all for now,

Cheers!

ENGLAND gone... DENMARK go!

I made it to Denmark on one piece and am now on the 2nd leg of my adventure!!

I had a fabulous time in England and want to go back to see more!! I think about all the stuff I did there ( London: Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, Tate Modern Museum, Piccadilly Circus, China Town, Covent Garden, Harrods, The Ritz, Notting Hill, Portobello Market and Winchester Cathedral and The Great Hall and Windsor Castle and then exploring the Soutwest coast in Devon and Cornwall, whew!) and there's still so much more I want to see!! I am hoping to see some of those things on my way home before I fly out of London. We'll see...

So I had the wonderful opportunity of coming down with tonsillitis 2 days prior to flying to Copenhagen, note the sarcasm. My tonsils started to feel REALLY sore Saturday night and I knew that I needed antibiotics pronto!! Lee was saying that all the doctor offices were closed on Sunday so we were going to have to go to the hospital but thankfully they had a walk-in, 7 day/wk doctors office that had just opened so I wasn't going to have to convince the hospital that this was an "emergency". With a little cohersion I was able to get some medicine and 4 days later I feel almost 100% again, thankfully!

My flight to Copenhagen left Heathrow at 6:50am which meant that I had to be there by 5am which meant that I got up at 3:30am and I only went to bed at 12am. Needless to say I was a little worried about traveling on 3 hrs of sleep and a case of tonsillitis but I somehow amazingly had plenty of energy. I think it was because I was excited to see Denmark. Thank god for adrenaline!!

So once my plane landed I had to figure out how to get from the airport to Copenhagen and find a way to kill some time before my friend could pick me up after work. It was easy.

The man at customs was so cute, he was like, "Oh you're from Washington!? My wife and I were just there and it was so hot. We were walking around and were like, whew, it's so hot. Enjoy your stay in Denmark," with a big smile. It was a very sweet welcome into this very sweet country.

Getting from the airport to the main train station in Copenhagen was a piece of cake! Almost all the signs have an english interpretation on them and there were even guys at the train ticket kiosks whose job was to help tourists like me figure out which ticket to buy, where to get on the train and when to get off, etc. So my fearful anticipation of being exhausted and sick in a foreign country leading towards getting lost and stressed out were all for not. I checked my big bags in the bag locker at the train station and was off!

It was great fun walking around not knowing where I was going and it not mattering. It was fun to explore and take it all in with no final destination or time frame. All you have to do is follow the big groups of tourists filing out of the tour buses. They will always lead you towards something cool to see. So I found the city square or town center where all the action was! Pedestrian only streets lined with shops and street performers, etc. Just about by the time I was able to find an internet cafe it was nearly when I was supposed to meet up with my friend.

She has an apartment in Copenhagen but at the moment she is farm-sitting where she boards her horse so I have been staying here with her and her boyfriend. It is just outside of the city limits. I have to admit that it is nice to be on a farm surrounded by horses. It's quiet out here and I like the feeling of being on a farm at the moment.

Today I pretty much didn't do whole lot! It was actually really nice. The weather was really warm and I just enjoyed sitting out in the sun reading my book with the farm dogs as company. The biggest excitement of my day was walking to the supermarket to pick up a few things. I learned one thing today: mind your step when walking on the sidewalk! Bicyclists are crazy and they will run you over!!! So walk in a straight line because when they come racing up behind you and whistle loudly you don't want to veer at all to see who or what is going on. THEY WILL RUN YOU OVER!!!

I think I am going to have a semi-repeat tomorrow minus the sleeping in bit. Going to ride a bike to the biggest shopping center in Scandanavia! But have been warned that compared to American standards it's tiny!!!

That's all for now!!!

Pictures from Devon/Cornwall and Stonehenge

A view in Bude

Clovelly

The Wreckers, named this because of so many ship wrecks at sea

Some look out point in Devon

The stairway down to "The Steps"

Somewhere in Devon, honestly can't remember the name of this place but legend has it that a giant built these "steps"

Lands End- western most point in England

"Selfie" at Stonehenge

Devon/Cornwall

Well...

Here I am sitting in a coffee shop sipping my English tea and enjoying a delicious scone as I type this. When in Rome...



When I stayed at the hostel in Key West and met some Brits I remember they had said that I was lucky to know someone who had a cottage in Devon. They were right!!!



This part of the country is absolutely incredible!! I can't wait to post the pictures but the pictures nor my attempt to describe this place will do the scene any justice. I was in love with London 'til now. Now my heart bleeds for the beautiful countryside of Southwest England!! ;-D



We set off on Sunday sort of late and stopped by Stonehenge on our way to Devon. Lee was right, it is just a bunch of rocks in a field BUT... how did they get there, who put them there and why? We still don't know all of the answers to these questions and it really is amazing and almost eerie as to what the meaning is behind these 5,ooo year old pile of rocks! One of the things that amazes me is how they got them to where they are now. The largest rocks came from the furthest away, Wales. And why this particular field??? There's a circular ditch that is dug around where the rocks are displayed and at one point this ditch would glow white from the limestone in the earth. There were also burial sights scattered about in some of the farmer's neighboring cow fields. These tombs were covered with large mounds of dirt and the deceased were buried with several items that maybe were important to them then or symbolized something for the afterlife. These burial mounds also had a circular ditch around them that would have been bright white before years and years of the elements would cover them in dirt and grass. One of the things that I found to be the most interesting about Stonehenge was that during Summer and/or Winter Solstice there is a rock that is off set from the circular formation in the middle and when the sun would rise during this time of year the ray of sun would shine directly over the off-set rock and beam directly through the center of the other rocks placed in the center. Very cool!!!



Then we drove about another 2 hrs. west until we reached the county of Devon or Devonshire. This part of England is just absolutely breathtaking!! My first day here Lee dropped me off at a coffee shop while he surfed. I had some things that I needed to catch up with online. When I was finished with that I wanted to find a nice quiet place with a pretty view in a park or something to write out some postcards. Walking though the tiny little village-like town that is set on a soft slope with the main streets laid out like a wish bone I sensed that the water was "this way" and followed my intuition. When I came around the corner at the top of the wishbone street the view that opened up before me took my breath away!! Maybe I was being a little naive but I honestly didn't expect something so magnificent!!! I found myself on a huge grassy cliff that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean!! To my right was miles and miles of these tremendous cliffs!! To my left below was the golden sandy beach scattered with loads of people either playing in the sand or laying in it and messing around in the water. Further left was the adjacent cliff. These cliffs are made up of dark slate and have obviously been pushed up way back by the continental shelves rubbing against each other. You can see the marks in the cliff side like the rings of a tree. The dark rocky cliffs are topped with the most perfect grassy fields. It really was something to take that all in!!! I had a lot of fun that day playing around on the man-made wall of rocks that came out like an arm protecting half of the beach from the impending ocean and walking along the cliffs barefoot in what felt like the softest grass!!! A completely amazing view!!! Truly felt like you were at the end of the world!!



Yesterday it 'lashed' or 'pissed' down rain for most of the day but we made the most of it!! We went to a small fishing village that dates back to the 1400's called Clovelly. It was set along a steep hill but again walking through this village there wasn't a spot that you didn't get an amazing view of the ocean or the cliff sides. These cliffs were completely covered in trees and thick foliage, the most amazing greens!! The best part about this fishing village is that it is one of the most preserved villages in England because of where it is located. On this steep hill the 'roads' are only small cobble stoned paths that you have to either walk in your goods or use a donkey to pull a sled-like contraption for the heavier stuff. And of course there is always getting things via the sea. At one point it was a port that the pirates used for smuggling because of it's hidden location. Very quaint and beautiful village. Charles Dickens lived there a bit as a youngster and there was a museum house that showed what life was like at those times. Very cute little place!!

I'm in love with this country!!!

Ahhhh... Where to begin? It has been a packed fun-filled adventure thus far!! I almost don't even know where to start!! I love this place!!! London is an amazing city and I absolutely love it!!! England is such a beautiful country and I am already not wanting to leave but one must carry on I suppose :)

I have spent a few days in London trying to take in all the sights!! There is so much to see and so much to do it's a bit overwhelming and I have already decided that I am going to have to spend some more time in London on my way back through before I fly home. I love London because it is a very cultured city with modern accents but historic roots. It's got it all!!

I met up with my cousin (whom I traveling to Italy with in August) for my first day in London. We went to the Tower of London which was very cool to see!! It basically has been around since the Romans and has been rebuilt, restructured and reinforced over the centuries. This is where Anne Boleyn (sp?) was be-headed. It is a major tourist attraction and is basically a walk down history lane. There were many exhibits on the armor, weaponry and torture devices that were used through the ages. We also got to see the "crown jewels" which was several different crowns that the kings and queens wore. The jewels on these things were unreal!! There was also a tower that prisoners were kept in waiting for execution that had inscriptures carved into the stone walls. Let me tell you people write some pretty profound things when waiting to die. Most of the prisoners were sentenced to death because of religious beliefs that were not the same as the King's. Crazy!!

Lee and I did another day in London. I got to see Buckingham Palace (from the outside) and eat lunch in Trafalgar Square. Pics coming soon. Then we went to Covent Gardens which is a very buzzing part of London with many shops and a big market. Lee and I watched a fun street performance from Punch and Judy Pub's balcony. I guess it's a very touristy pub and I think Lee was the only Brit to be enjoying a pint.

Then the next day Lee, Steve (a friend of Lee's), Gemma and I went to Windsor Castle. This is a castle for the Royal family and another amazing sight!! We saw the doll house of Windsor Castle which is the largest doll house in the world. Honestly not that cool but since it was the largest we had to see it. :) Then we were able to walk through the state rooms of the castle. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this castle was inside!! Definitely fit for a king!! The extravagance of art and tapestries on the walls, the chandeliers, the furniture, it was all so incredible!! Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures and words really cannot describe (plus I'm too tired at the moment to have a go at giving it any justice) the richness of the Royal culture. I mean you look at the robes a king had worn or his bedroom and all I could think was my ego would be enormous!!! The castle was set up on a hill and overlooked the city of Windsor which with the Thames river running through. A beautiful view. We then went to Eton University. This is a very "posh" university that all the who's who in the royal family and rich go to school. We sort of "tagged" along with a group that was getting a tour because it was closed to the public and they must have booked it in advance. But we only got to enjoy about 15 mins of the tour before being politely escorted out. It was worth it though to take a quick peek at the inside.

Yesterday we were back in London again. Once our train arrived at the Waterloo Station we went to the Tate Modern Museum. I had read from one of the guide books that it's a nice way to see the city scape of London from the 7th floor and it's free (London Eye costs about 20 quid). So got to see some cool views of London from up above to take some pics and then we did a quick look at the art. Saw some cool stuff and also some pretty random modern art but my favorites were the Picasso paintings, Monet and Salvador Dali. We then took the Tube to Notting Hill and walked through the Portabello Market. Then we went to Harrods which is an absolutely amazingly insane shop. They say that you can buy anything one can think of there and I believe it. The "food court" was really cool and like an old school market with a butcher shop and all. The woman's apparel floor was filled with all the top designer's clothes. I felt like Carry Bradshaw walking though there. It was crazy!! On the "Sports and Leisure" floor they had a polo section that included Pikuer breeches, bridles and saddles. Very cool!! Next stop was a photo opp in front of the Ritz and then on to Picaddilly Circus. Then we stopped and got a few too many pints in China Town. It was a long day and very fun to see everything. The architecture of the old buildings and monuments sprinkled through out with a beautiful park around every corner surrounded by the city vibe have all made London pull at my heart strings!! :)

Tomorrow we head to Devonshire which is Southwest England to see some more of the countryside and take in the sights of the coast. Lee has a cottage there and we will probably be there for 4 nights or so. He is going to teach me how to surf (Lee is really into surfing). Should be interesting. Kind of funny to think that I will give my first go at surfing in England, quite random but can't pass it up. We stop by Stonehenge on the way. Super exited to see that as well!!

That's all for now...