Embarking on my 6 week Euro-trip tomorrow!
Belgium, Holland, Prague, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Greece, Spain and Italy, I’ll be seeing you soon!
(just managed to get the flu as well so this should be rather fun)
It upsets me that I’m on the other side of the world but am still being subjected to a running commentary of the State of Origin on Facebook.
Such a shit game.
And I apologise for the lack of posts recently. My life here in Leeds has been crazy hectic with many assignments, an encroaching exam and trying to make the most of my last few weeks in the UK.
I’ll post about some of my London and Yorkshire adventures soon!
Excitement!
I have just booked my final place of accommodation for my epic 6 week Europe trip. We decided to stay in this lovely place just outside Venice, which will be our last stop before heading home. We booked through Airbnb which is a really great site. People let out rooms or their entire apartments, and it’s a great way to get affordable accommodation in good areas.
My sister and friend are also coming to visit me in Leeds this weekend, and I’m so excited! It will be nice to get away from the essays for a few days, visit York, go to Jamie’s Italian and show them around the place that has become my home.
Seeing Pond at Cockpit before heading over to Propaganda for a Bloc Party DJ set on the 19th May?
Sounds like my ultimate night out in Leeds.
(Source: indieleather)
Things I miss about home.
I was standing outside Tesco with my friend today, waiting for our taxi in the pouring rain. We were discussing what we miss about Australia, so I thought I’d make a list.
- Gaytimes
- Red Rock Deli Chips
- Grainwaves
- Tim tams
- Twisties
- Skittles and starburst (they taste WRONG here)
- Confectionary in general, but especially Allens
- proper fruit and vegetables, not frozen crap in bags
- bakeries (they’re few and far between around here)
- Proper scorching heat, where you can actually feel your skin burn. Weird, I know
- having a dishwasher
- being able to drive places
- being able to dry clothes on a line outside
- having a proper queen size bed and mattress
- playing netball and taking my dog for walks
- my parents’ cooking
- my friends
- my family
- my dog
That being said, I do love it here and there are a lot of things Leeds has, which Sydney does not. Doesn’t make me miss things though
I’ve reached that fun part of exchange.
Doing all the assignments I’ve left to the last minute because I was busy having fun.
Blergh.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Bombay Bicycle Club
—Your Eyes
Your Eyes - Bombay Bicycle Club
Off to York tonight to see BBC! I’ve never been to York, so this should be quite a laugh if I’ve underestimated my travels plans. Whatever, it will be awesome.
(Source: indieleather)
I think I have just discovered the most golden solution to an annoying travel glitch.
My friend Kim and I bought return tickets from Sydney to Frankfurt, thinking Frankfurt was a great travel hub and easy to get back to.
Yeh, so it is, but it’s also really boring to be in.
Our flight home is scheduled for the 11th July, the day after my birthday, and there is no way I wanted to spend my 22nd in Frankfurt. I’m sure it’s nice to live there, but it’s not a lot of fun being there as a tourist.
The plan was to end in Rome, however, I have just found a rather cheap Ryanair flight from Venice to Frankfurt late on my birthday which is perfect!
Being Ryanair, they are not going to the main airports, but close enough to the actual destination that this sorts out a lot of the problems.
Ahhhh travelling, so hard to organise at times.
Paris, je t’aime
Not gonna lie, this city is as awesome as everyone says. I was blessed with amazing weather and perfect company the whole week and got to see everything I wanted and more.
I had been freaked out by many stories about Paris. The seedy men, the gypsies who steal your things and the generally snooty behaviour of Parisians. Don’t listen to these people! Yes, the men leer a bit, but you can ignore them. I hardly saw any gypsies, and although I could speak hardly any French you can easily get by because everyone can speak English - just always remember to say Bon jour!
On the first day my friend took me on her tour of Paris, where we saw the Bastille, wandered around the Marais, saw the Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, visited the Invalides, chilled in glorious gardens and ate awesome French food for dinner. Yes, their food is to die for!
The next day I visited the Cimetiere du pere lachaise to see the graves of Jim Morrison, Chopin, Modigliani, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, Appollinaire, Proust, Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt. It took about 2 hours to find them all and you definitely need a map because the cemetery is epic.
Then I visited St Chapelle, which has stunning stained glass, and the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was held before being executed.
On Monday I visited the Louvre and only spent about 2 hours there. I’m not obsessed with art, and travelling around Europe definitely gives you museum fatigue. I saw all the main pieces though, and was able to get up close to the Mona Lisa. I then had a rest in the Tuileries before visiting the Musee de l’orangerie to see Monet’s beautiful water lillies.
On Tuesday I visited the Pantheon to see the tombs of Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and the Curies (yeah, I saw a lot of graves this week) before visiting the Musee D’Orsay (amazing Van Goghs, Monets and Renoirs) and then walked along the Seine. I had time to kill so decided to climb the Eiffel Tower which you MUST do!
On Wednesday my friend Natalie and myself travelled out to Versailles. The place is ridiculously extravagant and I guess you can see why the people rose up against the aristocracy. We spent the day wandering the Palace and then the grounds, chilling in the sun. It was lovely!
At night we had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower to see it sparkle, another must!
On my last day we grabbed the most awesome falafel ever, recommended by Lenny Kravitz before heading north (to the dodgy part of Paris) to see the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. Then we ventured back to see the Arc de Triomphe and wander down the Champs Elysees, finishing the day off with a delicious ice cream!
So Paris is amazing. GO THERE!
The Emerald Isle
Sorry for the lack of up to date posts. I’m back in Leeds for 5 days to do assignments before heading to London for 10 days. ahhhhh life.
So during the first week of my 4 week Easter break, my friends Kim, Anna and myself headed over to Ireland for St Patrick’s and then to travel around.
We started in Cork, took a day out to kiss the Blarney Stone, then had an awesome St Patrick’s, watching the parade before spending the afternoon and evening drinking and dancing in this amazing Irish pub/club.
From Cork, we travelled onto Kilkenny which is this cute little Irish town. Then we moved onto Dublin which was probably my favourite place in the Republic, and definitely where I would choose to live.
The Brazen Head is the oldest pub in Ireland and had awesome food. We also visited Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, went to Kilmainham Gaol and also took a trip to the Guinness Brewery (I kinda hate Guinness!)
Next we went up to Belfast in Northern Ireland where we took a day trip along the coast and saw the Giant’s Causeway. We were blessed with awesome weather and could even see Scotland!
From Belfast we travelled onto Derry which was a really lovely city with it’s mile long wall. We went to the Free Derry Museum and went on a walk around the Bogside with an former IRA member to see the painted murals on the gable ends. The stories he told and the exhibits in the museum about the Troubles and Bloody Sunday were absolutely shocking. I highly recommend others to go there and see what it was like for the community not so long ago and what the British Government only recently apologised for. Mankind can be so cruel.
