Getting on the bus, we lost no time in taking over the back of the bus, along with Al, Mikey and Duane, three more Aussies. Being loud and Australian (and New Zealander sorry Adam), we bonded right away and this is the central group we formed for the rest of the trip. (And maintained our control of the back of the bus too... really Contiki is like long school camp in a lot of ways!)

We drove for a couple of hours until we got to the White (or really not so white) Cliffs of Dover to take the ferry to France. And I got another stamp in my passport. (I plan to collect them now :p) The ferry trip was fairly uneventful and the sea was calm so no sea sickness issues thankfully. We just ate breakfast and browsed duty free. Then most of this day was spent driving through France, Belgium and Holland. There wasn’t even much scenery since it was really foggy most of the way. We got to know our tour manager, Lucky, a bit and he gave us a bit of a history of the Netherlands as we drove to Amsterdam. He also warned us about standards in Europe and made us think we were going to be spending our time in Europe staying in dumps, with smelly toilets without S-bends, eating bread and water for breakfast. Fortunately he was just lowering our expectations so that (apart from a few minor exceptions) we were always presently surprised by our hotels.

Arrived at the Ibis Hotel in Amsterdam at about 4pm and, already tired out from a day of driving, Jen, Sonia (aka ‘Charlie’) and I lay around in a room getting to know each other. We were put together as room mates in triple share room for the trip. And they’re both cool Aussie girls and we got along pretty well so that was good. Then we had dinner at the hotel (this dinner met the low expectations we had been warned about unfortunately!) then were driven in on the bus to central Amsterdam for a canal cruise. This was great, and we also got free wine and Heineken. Always welcome. Then the night was free to explore Amsterdam. Let’s just say, everything you’ve heard about Amsterdam... it’s true. Weird, fascinating, bizarre...and a little saddening.

The next day we visited the Anne Frank house. I got a shock when I came up the little stairs and there was the bookcase covering the entrance to their hiding place. It actually caught my breath for second to see it, and it felt surreal to be going through it.

Then we went to the Van Gogh gallery, took photos with the big I AMsterdam letters, nearly got run over by a tram (this was Jen and I still not used to traffic coming from the wrong direction!), nearly got run over by one of the innumerable bicycles numerous times! and headed off for the Heineken museum.

Along the way we saw a man outside a building holding a rope, and over a pulley at the end of that rope was a bed hanging up in the air. This guy called out to us, asked if we spoke English, and then got Duane (the guy who was with Jen, Sonia and I) to hold the rope while he ran up the stairs (remarkably quickly for an old man and 4 flights of steep stairs) so he could pull the bed into his house. All of the houses in this style have hooks on the front at the top for this purpose and when you see the houses and the stairs you understand why. When the guy was coming back down he saw us taking photos of his colourful stairs and invited us up to have a look at the flat he is renovating at the top.

After our little sojourn with the locals, we continued on to the Heineken factory, which is a really good exhibition. (Great advertising strategy on their part!) I have a funny karaoke video of us that I’ll put on YouTube soon. The picture below is of these little pods you lie in and watch Heineken commercials. When I looked into the room everyone was just lying silently in these weird pods in a eerie green light, hence my label for them of Heineken Brainwashing Pods.

Then we were supposed to be meeting the group and the bus to go to dinner in a sea-side town just outside of Amsterdam. Unfortunately we hadn’t left quite enough time to make our way back, and delayed and crowded trams meant we ended up missing the bus! Fortunately a taxi between four of us wasn’t too expensive and we managed to meet the group at the restaurant. This dinner was much more appetising than the night before. And more free Heineken. Then we went back on the bus into Amsterdam and... well as a group we went to a sex show... when in Amsterdam, I guess. But I have no interest in doing it again. It was weird and sad.

But I would want to spend some more time in Holland. It has more to offer than that.

Well that’s part two. This is turning into a monster blog – it will be at least 8 parts if I continue at this rate. Just a reminder all this detail is primarily for my own records so you can skim over the bits that start to get boring!

Part three coming soon...

Part Two remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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In the week after uni ended most people had gone home, so I was leading a pretty solitary life for a few days. The most human contact I had for a while came in the form of the shop assistants at the supermarket and the man selling me Euros at the post office! I had no idea who, if anyone, was still in my building until the night of the 16th when I happened to run into two of my downstairs flatmates (the aforementioned James and Don – see guys you get two mentions now!) During the week I had a fleeting thought of knocking on their door in case someone was there, but then didn’t do it! Oh well.

That night I went out with them, bonding over our mutual isolation in a deserted Leeds. So I guess I have to thank them that the following day, the 17th when I had to catch my coach to London, I was so tired I slept all the way and drive wasn’t as boring as normal.

That night I went to Trafalgar Square to look at the fountains, which weren’t on last time I was in London, and the Christmas tree.

I was also chatted up by an old French guy, who I politely declined to spend more time with, and headed back towards my hostel with a detour to Oxford Street along the way. All the shops were closing up since it was night, but I couldn't afford to shop there anyway! Then I went back to the hostel and I think I was asleep by 9pm!

The next day was my museum day, as I didn’t have the time to go to any last time I was in London. My hostel was across the road from the British Museum, so I went there first. I spent quite a few hours there and didn’t even see everything. There are great collections of Egyptian, Middle Eastern and Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, art and artefacts, including the Rosetta stone. Took me back to my first year Classics courses... and I couldn’t remember much at all from them... anyway... At precisely 12 noon, purely by chance, I happened to come across the clock room, so was able to get the full effect of their chiming. They weren’t all completely synchronised so it wasn’t all at once, which is probably a blessing.

Then I had lunch and headed to the Victoria & Albert museum. This houses a lot of art, sculpture and design stuff. I didn’t even see half of this museum, as time was running away from me. I did see some great sculptures, fashion and an interactive light/sound art piece. They had some reconstructions of Leonardo DaVinci’s inventions on display too, like the wings and the parachute. They had DaVinci exhibition somewhere in the building, but by the time I got to that and spent some time being confused about whether I needed a ticket or not, and where you could actually get one from it was too late in the day. If I have any regrets, its that I didn’t get to see that.

In my last hour or so before things closed and I had to get to my Contiki pre-departure meeting, I did a speed tour of the Natural History Museum, which is next door to the V&A.

I managed to get in the dinosaur exhibition and one about human biology. It was all interesting and I wish I could have spent more time there. Oh well, just means I’ll have to come back to London sometime. What a pity.

Then I had my Contiki pre-departure meeting. This was a bit of a waste of time anyway, since they only really told us stuff I already knew and then people checked in with their passports and contiki documents – but since I was running late I didn’t have these with me so I just had to do it in the morning.

Then I went back to my hostel planning to go on the internet, have dinner and go to bed early since I had to be up and at the Contiki bus by 6.45am the next morning. While I was in the lounge on the internet I met an Aussie guy and a South African guy and ended up watching ‘The Shining’ with them. Weird movie. Then we went to get some kebabs for dinner together. When we got back to the hostel we watched the end of ‘Moulin Rouge’ in the lounge with other hostel guests. And though I had planned an early night, I was up until 1am talking to the South African guy, Michael. It’s funny how quickly you can connect with random people you meet when you’re travelling. And sad that you do connect with these people and then have to move on again so soon.

Well that’s part one... and I haven’t even left London yet! Told you it was going to be long! Stay tuned...

Contiki Trip... remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Last night I went out to do a bit of looking around at London in Christmas lights. Went to Trafalgar square where the fountains were on this time, and it is decorated with a big Christmas tree. Very pretty.

Today I went around to some of the museums I didn't get to go to last time I was here - the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. (Though I spent progressively shorter times at each one as the day went on as I was running out of time!) But what I saw at each one was good. At the British Museum I happened to come across the clock room at precisely 12 noon, so was able to get the most out of a room full of chiming clocks! Saw some great sculptures, history of fashion, and an interactive light/sound display at the V&A. And dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.

Then I ran out of time and had to go to my pre-departure meeting for Contiki. Which only took about 5 minutes and all they told us was they are strict on the 20kg luggage limit - I don't know how much mine weighs but its nowhere near what my suitcase weighed coming over here so I'm sure it's fine. And also to meet at 6.45am. Yuk.

Anyway, I have taken a few pretty pictures of London but you'll have to wait a couple of weeks for them, along with all the other pictures I take in Europe.

I'm so tired right now that I don't really have the energy to be excited about leaving for my trip tomorrow! But I know I'm actually dying with excitement on the inside, and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow!

18th December remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I was thinking of catching a train to Manchester Airport when I leave since its quicker and not that much more expensive than the coach. But if it was packed like it was on Monday I'd never get my luggage on.

I have a friend who caught a train to London on Friday to catch a plane home, and he said he didn't get a seat the whole way!

Fortunately, the trip to Manchester took under an hour so standing wasn't too bad.

Manchester is a pretty cool city. It has quite a bit of old architecture, but also a lot of new so the overall impression you get of the city centre is modern, metal and glass. (But in a good way.) Even Manchester's oldest building, pictured below, has a modern clock built into it. They obviously can't resist.

One of the first things we saw was the Royal Exchange Theatre. This is another example of ultra modern juxtaposed with old.

This picture makes it look a bit like a space shuttle about to launch through the dome above, but it actually looks better than this. (Though still a little bizarre.) Its a circular theatre with 3 levels of seats around a central circular stage so wherver you sat you would never be more than 35 feet from the stage I think. (Correct me if I'm wrong, since I have no idea what feet is in metres.) It's constructed on the inside of the building with all the pipes and beams you can see in the picture, and looks like you could just about take it down and never know it was ever there.

Then we went on the big wheel they had set up to get a good view over the city. (Just a note, don't be fooled by the blue sky in the picture. It was sunny and fortunately didn't rain at all that day, but it was by no means warm!)

The capsules were all enclosed and the whole thing looked very safe and well maintained, but I couldn't help feeling a bit of a rising panic simultaneously with the rising capsule as we first started to move. But it was ok. After the first rotation I was fine as the capsule didn't swing or move too much.

Then we did a bit of general sightseeing, as you do, looking at the buildings and churches. (Manchester Cathedral in the picture below.)

Manchester also has a lot of Christmas Markets. In Leeds there is a German Christmas market, but Manchester has German, European and world markets. So we spent a good part of the day perusing these. They are a mixture of arts and crafts and food stalls. There were so many things I could have bought but most would have been too expensive, delicate, perishable or heavy to take home which is a shame. I will by some souvenirs and gifts like this at some point I think, but I'll wait til I'm actually in Europe. One of the food stalls had a whole pig on the spit, with the head and everything. Needless to say I didn't try that one, but I did buy a bit of chocolate and gingerbread, and some yummy dutch cheese (after going around and trying every one of the tasters). We also stopped to try some Irish Coffee and hot donuts. (I've also tried gluhwein which is yummy and nice and warming, but that was a different day). And my slightly dopey look in the picture below is a result of me beginning to blink as the photo was taken, not the whisky in the coffee, honestly!

Then we spent the rest of the day just wandering the shops, the town hall, a small ruin of whats left of an old Roman Fort, and watched some people slipping and wobbling around an outdoor ice rink until about 6pm. Then we caught the train home again. This time it wasn't crowded and we got a seat which was a relief as we were exhausted!

Most people have gone home now. Oliver left Friday, Blandine and Quentin left Saturday, Maisie left Saturday or Sunday, others left Sunday and Monday, Bjorn left this morning...so I feel a bit alone now. Even the people from my flat seem to have dissappeared or died (more likely went home while I was out) as the flat has been weirdly silent all day. I haven't heard so much as a door open, which feels strange coz the doors are noisy here.

But its ok. Everyone will be back in January and until then I will have my trip to Europe to keep me occuppied!!

Manchester remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Just a quick update, since I don't have anything particular to tell you about. Its just been getting in assignments and finishing off the semester for the last few weeks.

I had my last ever history and english seminars last week. Thats the last EVER...for the rest of my life!!! Once exams are done in January, that will be the end of my Arts degree, with just teaching left next year. Scary, but exciting!! And honestly a relief.

Apart from that there have been quite a few christmas parties and a couple of birthdays being celebrated before everyone goes home. (Or went home, since most people have gone now or will be going in the next few days.)

Lupton/Henry Price Residences Christmas party (Both residences had their Christmas parties on the same night at the same club so I went with the people from Henry Price, since somehow I know more people in that residence than I do in my own!)(L to R: Emily, Me and Bella):

I also went to the MedSoc (Medical students society) Christmas party, even though I'm not a medical student. Of the 5 of us who went together, only 2 (Faye and Oliver) were actually medical students:

(Faye, Me and Sarah)

(Oliver, Me and Joe)

And then there was two girls birthdays being celebrated on Friday, since they won't be here for their actual birthdays. And then for the same reason we decided to also celebrate Christmas and have a count down to New Years on the same night, so it turned into a big multi-purpose celebration! And have a look at this amazing birtthday cake one girl made:

Then there is the present we (Me, Bjorn, and two of his housemates went in together) bought for one of the girls, Faye. The only thing she had said she wanted for her birthday when asked was a horse. Obviously we could get her that but then as we were walking around the city trying to think of presents, we came across a horse that we could get her - it was a toy rockinghorse that makes sounds and comes with accessories and everything! :p It was so funny, and she loved it! His name is Herbert:

Fortunately there are still a few people staying for most of this week, so I won't be totally alone.

Then on the 17th I go to London for a couple of days (to see a few of the things I didn't have time for the first time) and then my tour of Europe starts on the 19th!!

And tomorrow I'm going with a few people who haven't gone home yet on a day trip to visit Manchester. (Technically I've been in Manchester before, but only the airport.)

Funnily in the last couple of weeks I've become closer friends with some people I met in the beginning through Bjorn as they live in his residence, but didn't really get to know until now. And it makes me sad; they are all such great people and now I've just got to know them and everyone is going home for the break, then I'll be going home not long after they all get back in January. It really breaks my heart to be leaving all the people I've met here actually. I'm trying not to think about it too much because I feel so sad

But anyway, thats all I've got to report for now - more soon from Manchester tomorrow, and then I'm sure I'll have a lot once I've been to Europe!!

Hope everyone is well!
xx

Sunday 10th December remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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But I was worrying for nothing as it actually turned out to be a great success. And my pavlova even worked! It was a hit in fact!

Craig, a fellow Adelaidian, who worked as a chef for 8 years, came in handy with his ingenuity and makeshift bbq cooking skills for the (pork) sausages and meat patties, on a baking tray on the stove top with two forks as tongs. He was great - did all the cooking for me! Thankyou Craig!!

I think about 20 people came in total, which was a challenge to fit into a five person kitchen, but we did it! (This photo shows most of the people, but it was taken later in the night when a couple of people had had to go already)

Rougly L to R: Craig (red shirt), me, Gen (green shirt) (the three adelaide people), Rodrigo (spain), and Olive (england) hiding behind him, Sophie (england) behind them, forgotten the name of the blonde haired guy (I just met him that night), Maisie, (the red haired girl in front of him) the American me, Mat (england) next to her, Felicity (england) behind them, Blandine (france - black top), Lydia (france - red top), Bjorn behind her, Mat (france - blue shirt), Tom poking his head up behind them (Chinese but has lived in England for many years), Laurence (france - pink top), and in the front another guy I just met and have forgotten his name too, sorry!

I put up the list of Aussie Facts I posted on here earlier on the wall, as well as a few pages of aussie terms and phrases translated
Eg:
Beat around the bush: to not get to the point
Buckley's chance: no chance at all
Happy Little Vegemite: a happy and contented person (from the old advertising slogan)
Mate's rates: cheaper than usual for a "friend"
She’ll be Right: it'll be all right
Shonky: dubious, underhanded
Stubby holder : polystyrene insulated holder for a stubby
Zebra crossing : broad striped white paint lines across a road as a pedestrian crossing

re: the zebra crossing - we (Gen and I) almost had a couple of people convinced that there were zebras in Australia. This started from the zebra crossing thing and also telling them that there are in fact camels in Australia. They didn't believe that at first either, but then came to see it was plausible, but that didn't quite stretch to zebras.

I also put up a blank map of Australia that just had the state borders drawn in and dots where the capital cities are, then made labels of the states and cities, sticking them on with blue tack. So I gave them a little australian geography test. Hmm, some people went alright, but many couldn't get past the ones you can work out by logic (ie Western Australia is probably that big part that is the entire west of australia). But with a collaborative effort they got there in the end. (But to be fair, if they gave me a geography test of England or France I probably wouldn't be much better!)

The pavlova was a favourite and now everyone wants the recipe. Too bad I made it from a packet and don't know the recipe. (I wasn't game to make it from scratch on my first ever attempt at making pavlova.) So if anyone has a good pavlova recipe, please send it to me so I can pass it on.

My "Welcome to Australia" sign on the flat door - I asked them to show there passports :p

Gen, me and Craig - the Adelaidians

Aussie Night remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Veiw from Edinburgh castle, looking out to the sea:

View from the top of the hill:

Panoramic Edinburgh remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Firstly, I received my Contiki pack the other day, hehe

Anyway, back to Edinburgh. First thing I noticed - it was absolutely FREEZING. Everything was quite grey for much of the weekend, grey skies, grey buildings. But in its own way, it was really beautiful like that. And I loved how there were so many contrasts. There is a lot of tradition, old buildings, people in kilts, old pubs, contrasted with some modern buildings like Scottish Parliament building and all the modern shops. We were in a large city, but then right by the sea, and by green hills and rocky cliffs, and castle in the centre of the city.

It took about 5 hours to get there, with only a short stop in Newcastle on the way. When we finally arrived we were all thoroughly ready to get off the bus and find some food. But first we had to check in to our hostel. Sounds simple, but add a dose of disorganisation and about 100 tired hungry people and you don't get a quick check-in. I think it took 2 or 3 hours for everyone to get their rooms. Fortunately we were one of the first groups, but it was still 9.30 by the time we got to eat.

When all the meals came, I noticed Lydia had ordered the fried Gnocchi. I didn't tell her while she was eating, coz I didn't want to put her off, but I had noticed on the menu it had a Haggis sauce... :s She didn't mind when she found out though, since she had liked the meal, and actually ordered Haggis, Neeps and Tatties for dinner the next night.

Other people tried some Scottish sort of meals over the weekend, but as neither internal organs nor fish nor game meats are really my thing I'm afraid I didn't. I did try a Scottish dessert, which contained whisky, so thats good enough for me!

The first night, after we finally ate, we went for a bit of a walk around Edinburgh city centre just generally acting like fools, taking photos and looking at the sights. It is really beautiful at night. We found a tiny Scottish pub where there were two guys playing music on a guitar and a violin, and went in there to get out of the cold for a little while. (Did I mention that Edinburgh is absolutely FREEZING!) Then we went back to our 12 person dorm to get some sleep, so we could get up early the next day.

None of us slept particularly well, but we did get up fairly early and made the most of our free breakfast by eating lots of toast.

Then, although intially horrified by the 10 pound entry price (thats over $20), we went to Edinburgh castle, which is at the top of a hill in the middle of the city and is connected to Holyrood Palace (the Queen's official Scottish residence) by the Royal Mile, a series of streets between the two. (And the main tourist centre probably too). The castle was interesting, and gave great views over Edinburgh so we weren't too unhappy about having to part with so much money.

A view of Edinburgh castle in the rain:

We spent the rest of the day exploring the streets of Edinburgh - well I say the rest of the day but in reality, by 4pm we were exhausted and it was already dark so we sat in a coffee shop for a few hours, then went back to the hostel to lie down for a while! For dinner we found a pub called the Office that served the cheapest and largest meals we had found all weekend which was good. There was Karaoke here too, but I managed to avoid getting up to sing until the last song, and that was with the whole group anyway.

Then we went back to the hostel, and the others went to bed, but I stayed up and played pool in the hostel's bar with two other Australian's (also from Adelaide), a german guy and an Italian guy, also from Leeds Uni, and a Polish guy who is working in Scotland and we just happened to meet as he was staying in the hostel.

The next day, after only 4 hours sleep, I for some reason decided to climb the big hill you can see in photos below. The path was really steep at first, but then leveled out and it really wasn't as difficult and didn't take as long as we first thought it might. But after that, and a bit more wandering the streets, the cold and the lack of energy was getting to everyone and ended up sitting in a coffee shop again for a while.

So I didn't see a lot of things from the inside since everything was too expensive for us, but I did walk past most of the main attractions and see them from the outside. And the places we did go gave great views. Even being freezing cold, and having damp shoes from the rain on the Saturday was all part of the experience.

Some more photos:

Edinburgh Castle

One of our many breaks indoors to get out of the rain at Edinburgh castle. It was cold and windy and our shoes were wet! (But then a few minutes later it would be blue skies.)

The hill I climbed (once I've stitched it together I'll have panoramic photo of the view from the top to put up here):

The Edinburgh Botanical Gardens (I didn't actually go here as I was climbing the hill, but its a pretty photo taken by the french girls so thought I'd put it up.):

Apparently I resemble a psycho penguin:

At a Scottish pub:

L to R: Blandine, Mai, Me, Mat, Laurence, Lydia, and Rodrigo is behind.

And what trip to Scotland is complete without a kilted bagpiper?

Many more photos, but no space here so go to my Picasa/Google web album to see them. (There will probably be more coming too, once I get all the photos off others.)

And re: the subtitle "So many languages, so little time" - after I meeting so many different nationalities on this trip and realising I know none of their languages, I feel like I should be learning them. I think its a pity that in English speaking countries there is not much importance placed on learning languages, not like there is in other countries on learning English. And I guess thats understandable since there isn't the same need, but I still wish it wasn't like that.

I guess there is still plenty of time for me to learn, but I have to make the effort. And which language to I learn? The majority of my new friends are French, so it might make sense to learn French. But I have the best basis for learning German, since I did it in high school and would have the most opportunities to practice it home, since I know other people learning it. But I also like Italian and Spanish. Perhaps I can start with German, since that will be the easiest for me. Then I can move on to French, and then from there pick up some Italian and Spanish, as there are similarities between French and Italian and Spanish that might make it easier to learn one after learning another.

Hmmm, somebody hold me to this so I actually learn at least one language in my lifetime!!

Hope everyone is going well in Australia, and enjoying the warm weather and long daylight hours. (By 5pm here I feel like I should be going to be soon already!)

xx

Edinburgh... remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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3 more films to report on:

- 'Colour Me Kubrick', based on the true story of a man who went around pretending he was the director Stanley Kubrick, and managed to avoid prosecution for everything he did. This starred John Malkovich. It was slightly weird, but because this guy was more than slightly weird himself, and funny. I'm pretty sure its coming out generally soon, so I'd recommend going to see it.

- 'Like Minds' - this was filmed in Leeds and Australia (apparently though I don't know which shots were in Australia since it all looked very English) and starred Toni Collette. It was the UK premier so two of the main actors were there, but no Toni Collette unfortunately. That would have been cool! It was an OK film, entertaining, but nothing that really grabs you about it. I'd still say see it, but wait for it to be on DVD, rather than pay for it at the cinema.

- A third film, which I wasn't planning to see but ended up going to - 'The Penalty King' based in Leeds and about a footbal club and a guy who loves football but went blind through a sporting accident. It was the World Premier which was cool, but not a great film. A few laughs but the cast and crew were in the audience and they were doing most of the laughing and cheering for themselves! (May have meant more if I knew more about English football/soccer teams)

And the final film I'm going to for the festival is 'Requiem' tonight. Soon actually, so better go in a minute.

First some more news - turns out the trip I've booked myself into with Contiki is 16 days not 12. Not quite sure how that happened but I'm glad it did now because that means more time in each place and it takes me through Christmas and New Years, so I have very little time to be lonely :p

So the revised Itinerary will be:

Tue 19th Dec - London - Amsterdam
20th - Amsterdam
21st - Amsterdam - Rhine Valley
22nd - Rhine Valley - Lucerne (staying in the highest hotel in the Alps and you take a cable car to get there. (Weather permitting though.)
23rd - Lucerne
24th - Lucerne - Innsbruck
25th - Innsbruck - Venice
26th - Venice - Rome
27th - Rome (originally I was going to be here Christmas day, so hopefully now things will be open, but still a bit doubtful.)
28th - Rome - Florence
29th - Florence - Nice, French Riviera
30th - Nice/French Riviera
31st - Nice - Lyon
1st - Lyon - Paris
2nd - Paris
3rd - Paris - London

Still soooooo excited!!

And going to Edinburgh tomorrow! (Which is today in Australia)

Lastly, answers to emails and comments: (its easier to write it here than email because I have use the Uni email online to send and it keeps timing out and other annoying things like that.)

I'll definitely try to get to see the Camera Obscura while I'm in Edinburgh. There seems to be so much to see, I wish I was there for longer than two nights, but I'll try and cram as much as I can into the day and a half I have.

I'm afraid I have no idea where I found that list of Aussie facts now! I came across searching for Australian food and recipes I think, but can't remember. If I find it again I'll let you know.

And answers to Mum's emails:

yes the video worked when I clicked it. How cute :p And also, I did order a Kath and Kim DVD to show people here, but it was out of stock so I didn't get it. Which is probably just as well actually, because UK dvd's have a different channel or something and don't work on my computer anyway.

Anyway, thats all for now. More when I get back from Scotland!!

Oh PS: the weather is getting colder and colder :s Last week, we had 3 of the clearest days, not a cloud in the sky, but they were some of the most absolutely freezing days also! I've really had to start layering up my clothing now. And its only going to get worse...

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I decided to do an update now, before I go to Edinburgh this weekend, or I would have to spend hours going through everything when I got back.

Not that I have been a doing a whole lot of anything but studying in the last few weeks anyway! But heres what I have been doing... (and I'll warn you I'm finding anything I can to avoid writing my essay, so you know this will be a long blog! You might want to read it in parts :p)

It has been the Leeds International Film festival here this week (Nov 2-12). Bjorn has been going to an average of four films a day (!) thanks to his film pass, and I have been going along to a few with him. It has been my first introduction to a film festival and it has been fun. Though I have discovered I don't very much like rating films. (They give out little slips as you go in and you have to make a tear along one of the lines depending on what you want to rate it, from 1-5 stars.) Plus, I also have to explain my rating to Bjorn as well, who as a budding film maker has well developed opinions on not just the overall feeling of the film as most of us probably think about after seeing it, but on everything, the style, the cinematography, the editing... So film discussions with him are often him talking and me listening. I'm a listner anyway so I don't mind, and I do manage to hold my own.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, the films I have seen so far are:

- 'Ahlaam', by a film maker who studied in Leeds, originally from Baghdad. He went back during the war to make this film about the experiences of patients in a mental institution. Bjorn had film makers criticisms but I appreciated it for the human side it showed of the people in Baghdad as it showed that the people who were (and are) affected by the war are real people, human beings.

- 'The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell'. A bit of a silly, but fun story about America somewhere around the year 2096 when it has pretty much been destroyed and there are only a scattered amount of people left, and the conflict between bands of people who want to be in control. A bit too much blood and stuff for me, but I'm sensitive :s But I still liked it and it was funny, and even agree with Bjorn that it was a great film stylisitcally.

- '37 Uses for Dead Sheep' is a film about the Kirghiz people who have been forced to move from the homes and travel over miles and miles over the last 30 years to finally settle away from their old home and make a new home in Turkey. This was an interesting documentary and also well made. My favourite part was when one of the old men was talking about having to pull out all his teeth with string as the only way to deal with dental problems - all except one. And then he grinned with his one tooth. It was so funny. And then he was embarrassed about showing it, and tried to hide it from camera.

- 'Bejing Bubbles' was a documentary about the punk music scene in Beijing, China. I agree with Bjorn that it wasn't a particularly well made documentary, but he said it was good to see to learn a bit about China, which is why I went to it. In China punk isn't accepted or the norm like it has become here. There these musicians really are doing something different, rejecting the expected school, marry, work pattern.

- 'Esma's Secret', one of my favourites so far. About a mother and daughter living in a community in Sarajevo still recovering from the Yugoslav wars in the 1990's. I think this would have had an even more significant impact if you were from there, but it was still a really good film knowing nothing about it previously. Even if I can't relate to the war aspect, I appreciated the affect it has had on them, and I could still relate to the mother, daughter relationship, the aspects of being a woman, and the identity and family issues. So good. If you find this film anywhere, definitely see it.

- 'Princesses' is my other favourite so far. It is a Spanish film about prostitutes. So, you may be thinking, ok, whats that going to be like. I was expecting something a bit dark and depressing, but surprisingly it wasn't. It was often light hearted, without treating the subject casually or flippantly. It was serious and moving, with some hope. And it didn't pass judgement on the characters (but by no means condoned it either.)
Following this film I had a discussion with Bjorn about prostitution - interesting topic to discuss with someone from Holland where prostitution is legal (and unfortunately somewhat of a tourist attraction.) But no one will ever be able to convince me that prostitution can or ever should be considered 'just a job'. I don't care what you say. Its not, and shouldn't be treated that way.

Well that was my little rant.

• * It's intermission now... go to the loo, get yourself a cup of tea, or maybe some popcorn and come back in five **

oh your back? Ok, well still to come at the film festival: 'Colour Me Kubrick' (about a man who imitated Stanley Kubrick I think), 'Like Minds', which was filmed in Leeds and stars Toni Collette, and Requiem, based on the true story of a girl in Germany who died while undergoing an exorcism ritual. The recent horror film 'The Exorcism of Emily-Rose' was also based on this, which I didn't want to see. But this one is not so commercial and differently addressed I think (I hope) so I'm curious to see it.

Anyway, sorry if you have been bored wading through all my film talking. (Blame it on Bjorn's influence).

Apart the film festival, I have been looking forward to my trip around Europe in December!! It is all paid for now, so I'm definitely going! I went and bought a warm jacket the other day because judging by the dropping temperature even now in England, nothing I had with me was going to be sufficiently warm. Especially not in Europe in place like the Alps in winter! It was a fairly pricey little shopping trip to get this jacket. (I am reluctant to convert the price into Australian dollars in case I have a heart attack). But I'm thinking of it as an investment piece, as its good quality and I shouldn't have to buy another one for a long time (hopefully ever!). And I'm glad I did now because I just looked up the weather in the places I'm going to, and in some places the average december maximum temperature is just 2 or 3 degrees. And thats the maximum. :s But it will still be so amazing. And I will see snow!! yay

And coming up:

• tomorrow I am going out with my across-the-hall flatmates from flat 2.2 (im 2.3). That will be good to get to know the people around me better as the only social gathering we have had so far has been the fire alarm. The other day I talked to the guy from Brazil (Eduardo) and one of the Italian girls Serena, and her visiting boyfriend in the kitchen over dinner, as we were all in there at the same time. A rare occurrence. And I talked to the British guy a bit the other day when he came to my door (in a tshirt and boxers) t0 borrow my hairspray to do his hair for a halloween party.

• this weekend I'm going to Edinburgh, woohoo! Can't wait.

• and next Friday, I'm having an Australian party. I've ordered some aussie products like tim tams and bbq shapes and minties for people to try. I'm going to cook hamburger patties and sausages in a frypan simulating a bbq, and just have bread and sauce, with potato salad and stuff for dinner. A bit of a sausage sizzle really. Thats Australian. I also found on the website Pavlova magic, to make it easier on myself to make it.

Heres a list of some 'facts' about Australia I found and will put up on the wall for the party. (If you can think of any more let me know and I'll add them)

1. The bigger the hat, the smaller the farm.
2. The shorter the nickname, the more they like you.
3. Whether it's the opening of Parliament, or the launch of a new art gallery , there is no Australian event that cannot be improved by a sausage sizzle.
4. If the guy next to you is swearing like a wharfie he's probably a media billionaire. Or on the other hand, he may be a wharfie.
5. There is no food that cannot be improved by the application of tomato sauce.
6. On the beach, all Australians hide their keys and wallets by placing them inside their sandshoes. No thief has ever worked this out.
7. Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the plastic milk crate.
8. All our best heroes are losers.
9. The alpha male in any group is he who takes the barbecue tongs from the hands of the host and blithely begins turning the snags.
10. It's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to hold.
11. A thong is not a piece of scanty swimwear, as in America, but a fine example of Australian footwear. A group of sheilas wearing black rubber thongs may not be as exciting as you had hoped.
12. It is proper to refer to your best friend as "a total bastard". By contrast, your worst enemy is "a bit of a bastard".
13. Historians believe the widespread use of the word "mate" can be traced to the harsh conditions on the Australian frontier in the 1890s, and the development of a code of mutual aid, or "mateship". Alternatively, Australians may just be really hopeless with names.
14. The wise man chooses a partner who is attractive not only to himself, but to the mosquitoes.
15. If it can't be fixed with pantyhose and fencing wire, it's not worth fixing.
16. The most popular and widely praised family in any street is the one that has the swimming pool.
17. It's considered better to be down on your luck than up yourself.
18. The phrase "we've got a great lifestyle" means everyone in the family drinks too much.
19. If invited to a party, you should take cheap red wine and then spend all night drinking the host's beer. (Don't worry, he'll have catered for it).
20. If there's any sort of free event or party within a hundred kilometres, you'd be a mug not to go.
21. The phrase "a simple picnic" is not known. You should take everything you own. If you don't need to make three trips back to the car, you're not trying.
22. Unless ethnic or a Pom, you are not permitted to sit down in your front yard, or on your front porch. Pottering about, gardening or leaning on the fence is acceptable. Just don't sit. That's what backyards are for.
23. The tarred road always ends just after the house of the local mayor.
24. On picnics, the Esky is always too small, creating a food versus grog battle that can only ever be solved by leaving the food behind.

Thats all folks

Update remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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As I was getting ready for the party, half dressed in a witches costume, there was fire alarm in my building so I had to throw on a jacket and ugg boots over my black dress and fishnet tights to go stand outside for about 20 minutes with everyone else. (I might also mention that is getting really cold here lately and I think it couldn't have been more than 8 degrees.) There was no fire - apparently the alarms can get set off by cooking, spraying deo or harispray or, get this, taking a shower! On the upside, it was the most socialising I've done with people from my residence since i got here, and I met the people from the flat across the hall from me.

Here's a few photos, but I've reached my upload limit for the month so not many. I'll put more on Facebook and my google/picassa web album.

Left to Right: Blandine and her visiting boyfriend (not in costume, tut tut), Barbel the pirate, Me the witch, Mat the cowboy and Laurence the devil. (Though you may have noticed that by this stage the witch, cowboy and devil have switched hats.)

And the freakiest costume goes to...Bjorn in his butchers costume and some poor unfortunate he came across at the party.

Fortunately I got away only mildly butchered and lived to tell the tale.

Halloween Party remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyway, I haven't got any exciting things to write about - I'm just bored and waiting for my laundry to finish. Its cost me 6 pounds to do all my laundry today - thats about $15!!

Coming up in the near future is Halloween, which will be the first time I've ever celebrated it. Maisie, my american friend will be celbrating Thanksgiving, so that will be a first too. There is also Guy Fawkes day - which will be exciting since they seem to sell fireworks to anyone here and they're always going off every night here and there.

I'm also going on a weekend trip to Edinburgh in november - and everyone keeps telling me how great it is there so I can't wait!

So anyway, the point of all that is to let you know that my blogs will be more exciting soon.

Today I have to go return some shoes I bought yesterday, then got home and found out they had given me the right shoe in size 6 (which is the right size for me in whatever sizing they use here) and the left in size 5. (When I got home and tried them on I thought one of my feet must have been bigger than the other or something.)

Then I'm going to the life drawing class again at 6 tonight. I plan to remember tonight, since I've forgotten the last 2 weeks in a row.

Anyway, thats the end of my bored ramblings. Got to go get my last load of washing out of the drier now.

Bubbye.

Wow, I just saw the English guy again... remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This is a picture of most of my international group of friends on the beach at Scarborough.

From Left to Right: Jessie (Australia :P), Bjorn (Holland), Lydia (France), Mat (France), CJ (Canada), Blandine (France), Sara (Morocco/France), Mai (France)

New Scarborough Photo remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyway, it was Bjorn's birthday yesterday. We went and saw the History Boys at the cinema, which was set in Sheffield I think and also had shots of Oxford (which I recognised from being there!) That was good. Then we had the international meal which worked really well, and everyone brought really nice food. There are some good cooks around! (and everyone seems to like Tim Tams). I realised too late that I should have taken a photo of all the food.

Bjorn's housemate made his birthday cake, which was a chocolate cake with brandy poured over the top. It looked really good, and apparently tasted good too but I was too busy running around getting people organised to sign Bjorn's birthday card and I missed out! Oh well.

This is Tom, one of Bjorn's housemates, who made the birthday cake:

And here's the birthday cake:

I bought Bjorn a poster of the movie Little Miss Sunshine which we both really loved (and I got myself one too). (It's a great movie - go see it!!)


And then we all (the international people) went in together to buy him a pass for the Leeds International Film Festival coming up in November which he really wants to go to, but couldn't afford the pass. I'm pleased to say he loved it and I'm quite proud of my idea :p

Anyway thats a short recap of the night, but now I have to go and write a 350 word history post that is due today but I've been too disorganised this week and haven't started yet :s (It took me a few days to recover from London, then for the rest of the week I kept having this feeling that there was something I was forgetting to do...

Bjorn's Birthday remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sunday was the second day trip. This one went to Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Warwick Castle.

This was a bigger, and somewhat friendlier group of people on this tour. (The people on Saturday's tour seemed to want to keep to themselves). There was another australian girl on this tour, from Brisbane and she was also a teacher (in London since May working) so we had several things to bond over.

Oxford was great! The town and the university are really one - there is no campus as such, the uni is spread over the town, so the town is the university (if you know what I mean. :P) With different colleges that the students stay in depending on their subjects and interests. The uni system is different to other unis. you don't have lectures here, you just have a personal tutor who you give your assignments to and go to some tutorials, but much of it is self directed learning. And you don't do a general arts degree or different electives etc. If you are studying history you just do history and nothing else for the whole 3 years. This means that when Oxford students graduate they automatically receive a Masters 3 years later without having to do anymore study since their Degree was so specific.

It's all very pretty sandstone buildings and cobbled streets. And not many cars - bicycles everywhere.

A peek into a college:

This trip wasn't so rushed so had a little while to walk around here (and buy an Oxford University jumper) before heading towards Stratford-Upon-Avon. On the way we drove throught the cotswolds which is an area of cottages - many of them still with thatched roofs. These are protected, meaning if you have a thatched roof you can't tile it, and if you have a tiled roof and decide to change to thatch you can't change it back. And people pay a lot of money for these cottages, even though you will eventually need to rethatch at a cost of 40,000 pounds ($100,000), and insurance is expensive due to fire risk. But they are pretty! :p The one in the photo below, we were told, was worth about 500,000 pounds (thats over 1 million dollars!!!)

Then we drove on to Stratford and Shakespeare's birthplace. Tourist infested, but well preserved and interesting to see for a Shakespeare buff like me (though this conversion is probably a new development - I always admired the plays but the more I learn and study the plays, the more I have come to think they are brilliant!!).

Then we went on to Warwick castle, which is a really well preserved medieval castle (one of the castle's built by William the Conqueror after he invaded in 1066 - never used and pretty much obsolete from the time it was built like all the fortifications William built, but perhaps his fortifications were the reason England wasn't invaded again and taken over so easily like William himself did.) It had a dungeon and everything! This was great to see. They had waxwork displays depicted both medieval life, and the life of the Earl of Warwick and his family who lived in the castle later. These were freakily realistic looking, and if you put your face up close to the fugures face you were sure at any moment they would move and you would realise you had been staring at a real person. We decided that we would have to go back one day dressed in medieval costume and sit in the display until some unsuspecting tourist came along and then spook them.

This photo was taken from the top of the tower (seen below). The walk up there was up a narrow winding and claustrophobic set of stairs, that for someone afraid of heights generated nightmares of a never ending spiral!) And there were grates at the top which looked straight down to the ground. However, not that long ago heights like this would have induced a sweaty, heart pounding panic but what I felt here was very mild, just a slight and entirely bearable discomfort. I've noticed my fear of heights since arriving here (in recent years escalating to a real irrational phobia) has abated. Which makes me think that it probably is a psychological, self-confidence related thing. Anyway, back to the photos:

That night I went back to the hostel, and even though I was invited out by two Italian guys in my dorm, I decided I couldn't do anything but go to sleep. I had thought about walking to see westminster abbey and trafalgar square at night, but apart from the fact that i didn't really want to walk at night alone, I was too exhausted and decided I would go in the morning before my bus back to Leeds.

So I went to Westminster Abbey on Monday morning. (Photos of the outside below, not of the inside since that wasn't allowed and it would have felt a little irreverant to be snapping pictures of the tombs of all these kings and queens and great people anyway.) I never knew how many people there were buried in that place!! It was beautiful and at the same time a little creepy to know that every few steps, there was someone buried under your feet. Or more than one - one of the graves was something like 20 monks who died from the Black Death.

I also saw Big Ben and heard it chime, walked past Downing Street - heavily gated and guarded - and then walked to Trafalgar square. The fountains weren't running, but the very tall Nelson's column and the Lion statues were fairly impressive.

Big Ben and the London Eye (which I have still to go on) in the background.):

Then it was time to go back and get my bags and catch the bus. I was in a panicked rush and one point as I thought I was going to be late for my bus. I ended up getting there on time but the bus was delayed for 35 minutes anyway. By the time I got back to Leeds I was so exhausted I felt like I would either snap or cry if anyone so much as looked at me funny. Total culture and history overload.

But I'm still glad I went. And there's still more of London to see, so I'm definitely going to go back. Hopefully with others next time though.

I;ve been buying, as souvenirs, charms for my charm bracelet. In Amsterdam airport I bought a little clog (even though I guess technically I haven't really visited Holland yet - but it reminds me of Bjorn now too). From bath I got a little bath, a crown from windsor, a bus from London, and a little shakespeare's house from Stratford-Upon-Avon. Soon my bracelet will be full if I keep up at this rate.

And thanks everyone for all your Aussie food suggestions. I found an online Australian product shop based in the UK. I haven't got the time to do anything involved before Saturday so I jsut bought some Tim-Tams and some Coopers Beer (which has the added personal touch of being from SA, not just Aus.) But I've bought other stuff too, and a Kath and Kim DVD, so I think I'll have an Australian party and do more meals and stuff later on when I have the time to do things properly.

Thats all from me for now.

Hope you aren't all melting over there in the heat. I'm not freezing yet but looks like it won't be long before I do :P

Also, the limit of photos I can upload here means that I can only put a few photos up, so if you want to see more go to http://picasaweb.google.com/a1120631/LondonTrip.

London Trip Continued remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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It was an amazing trip, but I'm still on culture and history overload! Everything I crammed into about 2 and a half days could easily have filled a week.

On Friday night, I arrived about 3pm, checked into my hostel and then went for a walk. I found my way to Buckingham Palace and wandered around a bit there. I tried taking a photo of myself in front of it (feeling like a complete idiot as I did so), and then another tourist offered to take it for me. (Unfortunately random offers like this rarely ensure the greatest photography but I'm still grateful.)

That night I went on a Thames Pub Walk - it was led by an American wierdly enough, but he knew a lot about the history of London and it was an interesting walk.

I met two Canadian Girls travelling in their gap year, and we hung around together. Then after the walk we all went together to a turkish restaurant for tea (which was really great food.) The woman they were staying with was with us and at the end of tea she generously offered to pay for all our meals as she said she wanted to do this for us a young travellers to pay back for the same being given to her when she was a young traveller.

It was about 1am by the time I got to bed I think, and I had to get up at about 6am for my tour the next day. So needless to say I was really tired (and I'd only, stupidly, had 4 hours sleep the night before!). Every time I got on the bus during the tour this day i fell asleep almost instantly. The tour was to Stonehnge, Bath and Windsor Castle. It was great to see all these places but a bit rushed all day with only a short amount of time in each place.

But I still really enjoyed it - it was a history lover's dream. Though each place was overpopulated with tourists, it still felt a little surreal when I imagined the people who had put these stones here and stonehenge, and walked in these courtyards at Bath so many years ago. I just wanted to reach out and touch everything and imagine who had touched the same stones before. I don't know what I was expecting, an electric shock or something, but I did get little chills every now and again. Just my over active imagination I know, but I still loved it.

This is a view of Bath from a hill coming down into the town:

And the Baths (another fellow tourist offering to take my picture):

Windsor Castle: (no photos of the inside, sorry - that wasn't allowed.)

A Chapel: (St George's Cathedral was like this inside but even grander. While I was there, the boys choral group was practicing and it sounded beautiful inside the cathedral.)

Saturday night I went an saw The Comedy of Errors at the Globe, which was fun, and appropriate since I'm just studying the same play at uni.

Here's pic of the outside of the Globe:

Okay, I'm going to have to leave it there for now, since I'm tired (Ik ben moe) and lacking motivation to keep going. So there will be a second instalment of my London trip coming soon.

Stay tuned.

Tot ziens. Ik spreek je gauw weer. (Which means, if you hadn't worked it out, 'Bye, I'll talk to you soon.')

'...Known unto these, and to myself disguised!' remains copyright of the author Jessie M, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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