Flights for 2011 to the UK

EK433 - EMIRATES

DEPART Wed 20 Apr 11 02:30

Brisbane International Airport (BNE) INTERNATIONAL

07 hr 45 min

0 Stops Economy

Boeing 777-300ER Confirmed

ARRIVE Wed 20 Apr 11 08:15

Changi Airport (SIN) 1



EK433 - EMIRATES

DEPART Thu 21 Apr 11 09:35 Changi Airport (SIN) 1

07 hr 10 min

0 Stops Economy

Boeing 777-300ER Confirmed

ARRIVE Thu 21 Apr 11 12:45

Dubai International Airport (DXB) 3



EK003 - EMIRATES

DEPART Thu 21 Apr 11 14:15

Dubai International Airport (DXB) 3

07 hr 25 min

0 Stops Economy

Airbus A380-800 Confirmed

ARRIVE Thu 21 Apr 11 18:40

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) 3



EUROSTAR TRAIN

London St Pancras to Paris Nord

DEPART: Mon 25th Apr 2011 - 09:22

ARRIVE: Mon 25th Apr 2011 - 12:47

Duration: 02h25m Train no: 9014



AIR BERLIN Flight: 8155

DEPART Paris (ORY) Thu 28-Apr-11 8:45 am

Terminal S to Berlin (TXL)

Arrive Berlin: Thu 28-Apr-1110:25 am

527 Miles (848 km)

Duration: 1hr 40mn



EASYJET Flight 4687

Berlin Schoenefeld to Rome Fiumicino (Terminal 2)

Dep 02 May 2011 13:55

Arr 02 May 2011 16:00



EK142 - EMIRATES

DEPART Sat 14 May 11 15:25

Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) 4

07 hr 05 min

0 Stops Economy

Airbus A340-300 PASSENGER Confirmed

ARRIVE Sun 15 May 11 00:30

Dubai International Airport (DXB) 3



EK434 - EMIRATES

DEPART Tues 17 May 11 10:25 Dubai International Airport (DXB) 3

14 hr 15 min

0 Stops Economy

Boeing 777-300ER Confirmed

ARRIVE Wed 18 May 11 06:40

Brisbane International Airport (BNE) INTERNATIONAL

.

Ash's zucchini bake

My sister Ash makes the best zucchini bake ever. It comes out at every family do. Here's the recipe :)

4 large zucchinis - grated
1 onion diced
200g diced bacon
1/2 cup oil
5 eggs
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup SR flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with herbs such as chopped parsley on top.
Mix it all together and bake till brown - approx 30 mins on 180 degrees in a non stick tray.

DONE!

My flat, renovations

Most of you will know that I bought my flat back in June. It's at Woolloongabba, it's close to everything and I love it. It seems like a long road of renovations - the tiles and carpet were ripped out, I painted all the walls myself (I now hate painting), the kitchen got a make over, the terrazo floor in the bathroom and mosaic tiles in the shower went bye byes and hello to beautiful porcelain tiles. The electrician was called in - new light switches, double powerpoints, exhaust fan and ceiling fan with remote control. And last but not least, my floors. I have to say - I love the floors - they really bring the living area "together". I thought maybe I had to much black furniture and furnishings, but the floor gives it a modern and warm feel and look and ties it all together. Anyway, I'm really pleased - I only have a few minor things to do now - like get a rangehood for the kitchen, and maybe new vertical style windows for the kitchen and maybe new carpet for the bedroom - but these are just nice to haves / things I can do down the track. Anyway, if you want to see photos of the renovations - all the befores and after, they're here:

View photos of my flat here.

Chocolate mud cupcakes

Chocolate mud cupcakes (makes 12)

Ingredients
300 grams of chocolate or choc chips
300 grams of butter
5 eggs
115 grams of caster sugar
115 grams of SR flour
icing sugar (for dusting)

Method
Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
Place 12 paper baking cases in a muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, set over a pan of gently steaming water, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring well.
Leave to cool a little.
Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick.
Fold the flour into the egg mixture and then stir in the melted chocolate and butter until well blended.
Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
The cupcakes will be soft and gooey in texture and appearance.
Remove tin from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
Then remove the cupcakes and serve swiftly, dusting them with icing sugar.
Store in the fridge for up to 3 days in an air tight container.

Looking back

People often ask me - where did you go while you were overseas, so for my own sanity and record - here the are highlights:

Bands I saw:

Tool, Trail of dead, Chemical brothers, Lcd soundsystem, Daft punk, Queens of the stoneage, Spoon, Tortoise, KT Tunstall, Feist, B52s, Groove armada, Presets, Lenny kratvitz, Kings of Leon, Ben Harper, Sigur ros, Radiohead (twice), My morning jacket

Where I went:

Paris twice, Versailles, Berlin, Belgium – Brussells and Leuven, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Highlands, Liverpool, Lake District, Oxford, Bath, Cotswolds, Wales - Cardiff, Snowdonia etc, Brighton, Turkey twice (Istanbul, Kusadasi & Ephisus), Switzerland, Vienna, Greece – Athens & Greek Islands, Egypt, Canada – Toronto & Niagra Falls, New York.

And other fun stuff:

We Will Rock You, Avenue Q, Legoland, Disneyland.. just to mention a few (and that's just the tip of the iceberg) Ok done - phew.

Manda's cookies – the BEST cookies in the world

These choc ship biscuits are a real hit. The are absolutely delicious and disappear very quickly at my house. If I'm a bit strapped for cash or don't know what I should get someone for their birthday, I will bake up a round of cookies, put them in a takeaway container or gift box and wrap in cellophane. People like it when you take the time to make something for them.

Manda's tip: if you want to try something different (instead of using normal choc chips), try white choc chips and macadamia nuts on top of the cookies!

Ingredients
125 grams of butter (half a cup)
¾ cup sugar
1 packet of chocolate chips (white, milk or dark - whichever you like - you could even mix them up)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg (beaten)
1 ½ cups of self raising flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

In a large microwave proof bowl, place sugar and butter and microwave for 2 minutes (or until butter has melted)

Stir in beaten egg, vanilla and then flour. Mix well.

Have 2 oven trays or biscuit trays ready with baking paper on them.

With a teaspoon, form small ball shapes and place on the first oven tray, evenly distributed.

Remember they will double in size so give them room to expand.

When the tray is "full", press chocolate chips bits (as many as you want) onto each raw biscuit. Don't squish them flat when you do this – keep them in a ball shape (or reshape into a ball if you've squished them).

Put in the top tray of the oven on 180 degrees for 10 minutes (no longer! Or they will turn out hard as a rock).

While your first batch of biscuits are in the oven, prepare the next tray of cookies.

By the time your first batch is ready, you will have prepared the second tray and can swap them over ie: take the first batch out of the oven, and put the second batch in.

With an eggflip, remove the first batch of cookies from the oven tray and place on cool racks or plates (or a bench lined with baking paper works just as well too). Do not sit them on top of each other.

Keep the baking paper from the tray and prepare the next batch.

Repeat until there is no mixture left.

Eat them like the COOKIE MONSTER! Dum da dum dum dum..

Delicious Date loaf

This recipe is ridiculously easy and quick and so yummy. It's also pretty good for you too..

Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
1 heaped tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 beaten egg
2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped dates

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.
Line a large loaf tin with Glad Bake.
In large bowl, pour water, butter and vanilla in.
Stir until butter is melted.
Add sugar, mix. Add egg mix.
Add flour and nutmeg, mix.
Add dates, mix.
Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a wooden skewer.
Remove and rest in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve sliced with butter.

One last travel blog entry

Well I'm back home in Brisbane and have been for 2 months now. The weather is gorgeous, I'm looking a job and planning my 30th birthday party next month (eek!). I thought I should write more about my 1 month holiday before I returned to Australia (all the links to photos are in the previous blog entry). So here goes:

Greek Islands:

Mykanos and Santorini were my favourite. Santorini is the place where you take photos that come out like post cards - it's just absolutely stunning. All the white and blue cute little houses, hotels etc and the views were just amazing. Even the animals loved to just sit there and look out at the views. The cruise was really fun and getting to spend a day in Turkey again was fantastic - we did an excursion to Ephisus where all the ancient ruins are. The ampiatheatre there is so huge - U2 even did a concert there. My only disappointment and misconception with the Greek Islands is that the beaches are terrible, gravelly etc. Don't expect long white beaches. The water is beautiful though. On Rhodes island, I swam out to this platform 3 storeys high and jumped off twice - very exhilerating! I spent a day in Athens after the cruise with a hangover from hell courtesy of the toga party on our last night of the cruise. You really only need a day in Athens I think as a tourist. And then it was straight onto an overnight flight to Cairo..

Egypt:

Egypt - what an amazing and dirty disgusting, unhygenic place. There is rubbish everywhere in Cairo. Riverbanks are piled high with litter for as far as the eye can see. It's insanely busy. There are NO traffic rules - cars travel like they're in a car rally race or in a swarm of fish. Lane markings are ignored and cars merge into a chaotic honking mess. And then in the middle of all this chaos, you glance over this buslting city and smack bang - there are the pyramids in the middle of it all. I'd always thought the pyramids were far away from Cairo, but they're not. The pyramids are just HUGE, like mountains. One block went up to my shoulders. I crawled into one of the chambers under one of the pyramids. The sphyx is right next to them too - pretty cool.

So I went on a 15 day tour around Egypt. We headed on a "first class" Egyptian train overnight to Aswan, which I like to refer to as the "the arsehole of the earth". The trip to Aswan, if you fly takes 1 hour. If you take a train, it take 18 hours. Our tour company of course took the train because it's cheaper. The chairs were "comfortable" enough - they reclined at least, like on a plane. But the toilet. Oh the toilet. It wasn't a toilet. It was a metal "contraption", piled high with everyone's shit and toilet paper. It did not flush. Flies buzzed around it. And at 5am, when I woke up on the overnight train, my tummy felt like a kicked in football, and I found myself with simultaneous vomitting and dioreah for a few hours. FUN! That's another thing - you are going to get sick in Egypt at some point no matter how careful you are.

There's not much to do in Aswan - I ate a great pizza, bought some souvenirs, got continually harrassed to buy shit from market sellers and that was about it. I took it pretty easy coz my tummy was not feeliing great / was still recovering. I also did a felucca ride there too and we did a day trip to Abu Simbel - which was pretty awesome.

Next notable stop was Luxor. After the shitty train ride and being well umimpressed with Aswan, Luxor was what you picture and imagine Egypt to be. Our tour group had split up into groups by this point, so there was just 3 of us arriving in Luxor, a day before everyone else. We stayed in the most beautiful and luxurous hotel ever. The room was stunning. The bathroom was huge and had a bidet. You walked down to the pool, and onto a deck that overlooked the beautiful sparkling Nile with lush green hills and the dusty Valley of the Kings in the distance. The sunset behind picturesque palm trees. We sat on the deck drinking beers all afternoon looking over the Nile. I was happy :) Other highlights in Luxor - hot air ballooning (it'd been a lifelong dream to go hot air ballooning) and Valley of the Kings. The views when we went hot air ballooning were just stunning and it wasn't at all scary - it was just like going up and down in a lift in a hotel where you can look outside.

The most other notable stop was Dahab. We stayed at a resort on the Red Sea. The tour had been pretty "hard going" - early starts, overnight train and bus trips, excursions - go go go, so it was just nice to stop and do NOTHING for a few days. There were optional activities to do there, but I skipped most of them and just relaxed. I did go snorkeling, but the funnest thing I did there was go quad biking. We reached up to 80kph on the open road, and well, just went nuts off road. It was like super mario kart, but a hundred times better - I had a ball. We went through valleys, desserty parts, beaches, you name it. Totally worth it.

Our bus ride back to Cairo, was again, another hideous overnight bus ride. My roommate for the trip Jen slept on my lap, and I slumpted on top of her. Bus rides in Egypt are scary, and not because you get escorted by police everywhere, or go through checkpoints with dudes with guns. The scariest part is the way they drive! The buses usually drive in a convoy together with police at the front and back, and the buses drive nose to tail at insane speeds, and no one enforces or wears seatbelts. If one of the buses had to stop suddenly, like if a camel ran on the road - which they do, you'd all be dead. Anyway, we arrived in Cairo at 6.30 in the morning at our hotel and we were DEAD. We were allowed to have 2 hours of sleep, before we went off and did some site seeing around Cairo.

Site seeing when you're dead tired or hungover is not fun. I went to the Egyptian Museum and saw Tutenkhamen's famous mask and was happy about that, but kept dreaming of my bed back at the hotel. We later had a look around the massive markets in Cairo -Khan el-Khalili. These are THE most insane markets I've ever been to. It was this maze of markets, laneways, crammed with people, donkeys, minivans - total chaos selling all sorts of crap. At one point, I didn't know if we were even going to find our way out of there. We eventually did, and found a taxi. By the way - all cars and trucks in Egypt look like they're from the 1960s - Egypt is where cars go to die and continue to somehow live for another 30 years. I'm not sure that I saw one modern car the entire time I was there. Anyway, we made it back to the hotel and the next day I flew back to London for 2 days and was horrified at the terrible cold rainy weather after spending 3 weeks away in perfect summery weather. I did laundry, packed all my winter clothes and I was off to Canada and New York.

Canada:

I flew from London to Toronto. If I thought London was cold, I was in for a rude shock when I got to Canada. Eek! My good friend Karen (she's Canadian), who I met on a contiki tour I did around Europe in 2004 picked me up from the airport. Karen had also come over to London in February in 2008 and stayed with me for 2 weeks and we went over to Paris etc. Anyway, we headed to her hometown of Peterborough, about 1.5 hours drive away. I loved Karen's flat and got to see all the places, clubs, restaurants and people Karen had been telling me about for so long. Had the best sushi in my entire life there too. While I was there, I caught a ridiculously early bus to Toronto and did a day trip to Niagara Falls. What an amazing place. The falls are spectacular - and you get get up SO close to the point of jumping over the barrier. Note, if you decide to jump the falls - it's a $10,000 fee if you survive. And the survival rate is pretty high (more people survive than die).

The falls are so powerful and loud and are this beautiful emerald green colour. The whole area is covered in mist from the falls. When I was there, it was Autumn, and all the trees had turned all sorts of reds and orange - I'd never seen a proper Autumn in this magnitude. And there were squirrels everywhere - but get this - squirrels in Canada are jet black in colour - weird! When I got back to Toronto, I also managed to catch up with one of my school friends, Cynthia who I hadn't seen in a very long time who happened to be living and working there. She showed me around the main streets of Toronto, had a coffee and then I headed back to Peterborough.

New York:

When I was deciding all these trips, the Canada and New York trip was pretty impromtu / spontaneous. I researched some airfares to Toronto and did a comparison from Australia. Brisbane -> Toronto return = $2000 AUD. London -> Toronto return cost 300 GBP = SOLD. When Karen and I were talking about what we should do while I'm there, we came up with the New York idea. We found a really cheap fare for about $150 USD return from Toronto to New York. Bargain! And by this stage of the game, I knew we'd probably be on a budget and accommodation in NY is sooo expensive, so we booked in at a hostel for about $30 a night. When we arrived at the hostel, the guy on reception handed us some metro cards that some other guests had used that was still valid - so we travelled around on the subway the whole time for free!

But New York - what a fabulous place. So much to see and do. Top of the Rock, the Rockafella Centre, Empire State Building, Central Park, Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, 5th Avenue, Comedy Clubs, Broadway, Soho, the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, the Stock Exchange, Times Square. Times Square shits on London's Piccadilly Circus. And then of course there's the site of the World Trade Centre. What a moving experience. It's one huge construction site now with baracades all around it. They're building a new building on the site called the Freedom Tower. We went to the visitor's centre. The walls inside were covered with missing signs families had made and photos of all the people who died. I wanted to cry. I wanted to get a good look into the site itself. My best tip is to go into the Hilton and go to their cocktail bar a few floors up, and you can see straight in. And it's also a good opportunity to rest your feet and have a drink - I had a cosmopolitan. We only had one celebrity spotting while we were in New York - Robin Williams. What can I say - I wish we had more time in New York - there's just so much to see and do - I LOVED IT.

By the time we got back to Toronto - it was minus 2 degrees. I've never been anywhere MINUS anything. And then it started to snow. Karen had to scrape the snow off her car. I'd never felt so cold. Then it dawned on me - do planes take off in the snow? And yes, apparently they do. Big snow ploughs clear the snow from the runway and big trucks with long arm hoses blast off all the ice and snow from off the plane (was quite interesting to watch). Another long flight later, I was back in London and had 1 week to pack up my life and my flat in London, and head back to Australia.

London:

When I got back to London, all the tiredness, jetlag and sniffles compounded in this massive headcold and I spent most of my time indoors, taking vitamins, eating lots of garlic to kill the cold (which worked eventually), and packing boxes and boxes of stuff to be shipped home. When I packed my suitcase, it was ready to EXPLODE. It ended up being overweight by 8 kilos and cost me 69 pounds as a result (and the check-in lady was generous with me too considering how overweight my bag was). By this point, I'm pretty much used to and over flying and couldn't give a rat's arse if I ever saw another airport in quite a while. I'd said my goodbyes and my best friends Emma and Liz gave me a beautiful photo of the three of us, the night before - I miss our chats, dinners, drinks and outings around London. We said our goodbyes inside Oxford Circus tube station, and I disappeared down the long escalators headed for the Victoria Line. It was a bit like the movies.

The last time I left my flat while the taxi was waiting outside, was kinda sad. I'd loved living in London, especially in Clapham Junction - such a great area - it had everything I loved and needed - shops, bars, restaurants and trains, all within 5 minutes walking distance. I closed the door to my flat and my life there and left London for the last time. My cab drove past things I'd see for the last time. It was a sad and happy moment. When we lifted off, I didn't even get to see central London from the plane - we immediately disappeared into thick cloud, and I was gone. I was on my way home :)

So what's it like being back? The weather is great, the food is great, sleeping in and sleeping in my own bed is great, driving a car is great. Catching up with everyone has been great. Yes, I'm starting to get a bit bored, but hopefully I'll get a job soon..

My last comment about my whole experience overseas... I was gone for nearly 2 years. It's the best decision I've ever made in my life and I had an insane amount of fun. It's almost like I've been living someone elses life for the last 2 years - it feels like a dream. Flitting off to Europe whenever you want - cheap airfares make it so easy to travel from London. I'd encourage everyone to do it - and do it while you're still young (and before you settle down, buy a house etc - there's plenty of time for that stuff later). Get out and see the world - you'll see some amazing places and meet amazing people. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Signing off and hope you've all enjoyed reading my travel blog - Amanda :)

Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Canada, New York - PHEW

I am back in London and I'm sooo jet lagged, and have a week to pack up my flat. I'm going to write a proper blog entry about each country (later), but for now, if you're desperate, I'm posting links to all the various photo albums and videos I took while I was away.. Enjoy!

Videos: (various) 1: me jumping off a 3 story platform into the ocean in the Greek Islands, 2: Niagara Falls, 3: the whirlpool near Niagara Falls.

Photos albums:
New York
Canada
Egypt - Luxor
Egypt - Aswan
Egypt - Dahab
Egypt - Cairo
Egypt - Hot Air Ballooning
Greek Islands
Turkey

PS: I get back to Australia on 29 November!!

Where on Earth is Amanda?

Well, it's official. I have given 2 weeks notice at work and resigned and I'm off on a BIG holiday before I head back to Oz at the end of November. If you're wondering where on Earth I am and where I'll be, here's all my flight details :)))

Depart: London Gatwick (North), Sunday 19 October, 4.30pm
Arrive: Athens, Greece, Sunday 19 October, 10.00pm
Flight number: Easyjet 8587
Greek Islands & Turkey Cruise info

Depart: Athens. Greece, Saturday 25 October, 00.50am
Arrive: Cairo, Egypt T2, Saturday 25 October, 01.45am
Flight number: Olympic Airlines 325 (1 hour, 55 minutes)
Egypt Explorer 15 day tour info

Depart: Cairo, Egypt, Saturday 8 November, 5.10pm
Arrive: London Heathrow T1, Saturday 8 November, 8.45pm
Flight number: BMI - MS 9230

Depart: London Gatwick, Tuesday 11 November, 9.50am
Arrive: Toronto, Canada, Tuesday 11 November, 1.00pm
Flight number: Air Transat TS 123

Depart: Toronto, Canada T3, Saturday 15 November, 4.35pm
Arrive: New York – JFK T4, Saturday 15 November, 6.30pm
Flight number: LAN 533 (1 hour, 55 mins)

Depart: New York – JFK T4, Wednesday 19 November, 10.05am
Arrive: Toronto, Canada T3, Wednesday 19 November, 11.45am
Flight number: LAN 532 (1 hour, 40 mins)

Depart: Toronto, Canada, Wednesday 19 November, 7.45pm
Arrive: London Gatwick, Thursday 20 November, 7.55am
Flight number: Air Transat TS 322

Depart: London Heathrow T3, Friday 28 November, 11.30am
Arrive: Hong Kong T1, Saturday 29 November, 7.05am
Flight number: Cathay Pacific 252 (11 hours, 25 mins)

Depart: Hong Kong T1, Saturday 29 November, 12.35pm
Arrive: Brisbane, Australia T1, Saturday 29 November, 11.20pm
Flight number: Cathay Pacific 157 (8 hours, 45 mins)

Vienna

Vienna City Photos
Vienna Zoo Photos
Friday night: hideously long bus journey to Heathrow straight after work. Saw the new Terminal 5 – lots of shops and decent places to eat. Had sushi. Mysteriously had a business class seat on the plane! Told the guy next to me we must have someone really skinny sitting in between us (business class seat dividers squish the middle seat – German / Austrian guy didn’t get it and decided to give me a speech on business class seats). Plane sat on the tarmac for a good half hour. As we took off, saw a big queue of planes, about 10 waiting to take off as well. Why does British Airways always serve crappy sandwiches? Landed 2 hours later. Kerri (my cousin) was also delayed. Caught a taxi to the hotel. Oohed and ahhed at the pretty buildings on the way. Very tired and very late, we went to bed not long after checking into the hotel.

Saturday: huge insane buffet breakfast. Best bacon I’ve ever eaten – wafer thin. And smoked salmon *drool*. Time to get out, discover Vienna and get lost. And we did. However, we did see a cute street market that looked like an old person’s house had been emptied – lots of old tins, prints, photos, frames, clothes.. After our “diversion” on a few trams, trains etc, we finally ended up back at the Museum Quarter, and wandered around some grand and gorgeous buildings and parks. Eventually we ended up at the Belevedere Palace, walked through the gorgeous grounds and saw the one thing – the entire reason why I came to Vienna. To see Gustav Klimt’s painting, “The Kiss”. I stared at it for so long. To see it up close was so different to seeing it in books. You could see the texture, the real colours, the strokes. Not only was there gold, but also silver used in the painting. I kept coming back after looking at the other paintings to see it over and over.

We then hired some bikes and peddled around Vienna along the parks and riverbank. SO much better and faster than pounding the pavement. Highly recommend it, and loads of bike paths. There’s just sooo many buildings to see. Eventually we went back to the hotel, kicked our feet up, had a couple of drinks and then went upstairs to get ready for the opera. The opera house was stunning. We had champagne to celebrate and our own box on the balcony. Choosing seats is quite hard and also, thank GOD – we had little screens that translated what they were singing into English. Other seats didn’t have that. The opera singers were amazing. No microphones whatsoever – their voices filled the vast, tall area. Afterwards, we went out for a late bite to eat and slept very well that night.

Sunday: the Spanish Riding School. Basically, very well trained white horses, who dance, do ballet and jump around lots to music. Beautiful horses. Enjoyed the second half where they did the ballet, dancing and jumping the most. Afterwards, we went to the Vienna Zoo.. OMG: highlights: mum and dad tiger with 2 baby tiger cubs. 1 leopard and 2 black jaguars all climbing over each other like best buddies and the panda, including the baby panda bear. Great zoo - they even had a delicous restaurant there too! We had dinner and wine there, headed back to Central Vienna on the Underground and found a mexican bar and downed a jug of strawberry marguriatas.

Monday: Kerri had to fly home very early that morning, which left me to my own resources for the day. So after a hearty baconny breakfast, I headed to the Museum Quarter to the Leopold Museum and saw more Klimt paintings and other Austrian art. I then hired a bike and peddled over to Augarten - a huge park. Ended up at Stephenplatz - big Notre Dame like Cathedral, had a bit of retail therapy, found a gorgeous old cafe where you can see the pastry chefs making everything from scratch and had the most insane delicious iced chocolate EVER. Headed back to the hotel, picked up my bags and made way for the airport. Had another amazing seat on the plane - emergency exit row, loads of leg room, an almost empty plane and no one sitting next to me - yay!

So, thanks to my cuz Kerri for a wonderful weekend together - I had such a great time :) xoxo

Switzerland and York photos

August - what a month, from Turkey at the beginning, to beautiful Switzerland staying with my cuz, to a quaint day trip up to York.. Off to Vienna this weekend and lots more to come!! Enjoy :)

Switzerland photos (album 1)

Switzerland photos (album 2)

York photos

The sun doesn't shine

The sun doesn't shine in London
The clouds are permanently set
So dull, so weary –
Her people march lazily in her shadow.
No sunrise, no sunset.

The clouds push down,
Unemployment rises, inflation rises.
Nobody smiles, eye contact is minimal, wrinkled faces distort.
A trail of smoke lingers from every hand with its mandatory cigarette,
While rain comes down and dampens our clothes and our spirits.

The hiyas, dyouknowwhadimeans, the youalrights?
The queues, the crisps, the chips, the pints, the stodgy food
No wonder they drink so much, smoke so much, eat so much, complain so much.
Her only hope, is to break through the grey,
And escape by plane to a cleaner, warmer salvation called Europe.

Apparently there were good days
Where the summers here were dry and long.
But the only summers I remember,
Are in the place where I come from.
And I ask myself this question, where do I belong?

By Amanda Home.

Turkey - 30th July to 4th August

Photo album 1 - Istanbul site seeing
Photo album 2 - Istanbul cats

Turkey -the land of honking cars, no road rules, no seatbelts, ruled by a city of homeless cats. If you like corn, pretzels, icecream, spirographs, shoe shining and kebabs - you have come to the right place - there's one of these stalls or trolleys every ten metres. Drinking tea, smoking waterpipes and playing boardgames is a must. Singing, dancing and clapping along at dinner if you're out at a restaurant is the norm. It's so vibrant, colourful, full of life and fun.

Here's what I got up to:

Wednesday: got up stupid early and hauled arse to Heathrow. The flight was fine. Landed in Istanbul. The longest passport control queue awaited me. Dropped off my bags and headed off to the Grand Bazaar which is one of the biggest indoor maze of markets I've ever seen. Had some tea at this lovely cafe restauarant run by some young boys. Walked down to the water by the Old Town, stopped at an *amazing* pastry shop where I had CHOCOLATE baklava - which was insanely yummy. B then stopped off for a shave at a barber shop, then we went back to the hotel, had drinks on the terrace and headed out and had tea and smoked a water pipe whilst listening to music and watching a Turkish dancing man spin around, and around, and around.. And then headed to bar for some drinks with the lovely Barman "Murat" and had a late dinner.

Thursday: checked out the hotel and checked into a deluxe suite at the Marmara hotel - which was just *stunning*. Thank you B. The views from our room were breathtaking. We had panoramic views of the Bosforus (waters). Went for a swim in the pool and relaxed in the sauna and jacuzzi. We then went for a walk down the Istakal - a big stretch of shops, restaurants and cafes. We then walked to the music district, full of music shops with guitars etc. Bought a cute skirt. That night we ran around looking for the sunset. We found a flower stall that had *purple* flowers, so B bought me a purple rose :) We then ran around found a place to see the sunset which turned out to be outside a tv station and government building - the security guards didn't really like us being there, so we moved along and found somewhere for dinner. Afterwards, we went to this place called the Crab Cafe where a Turkish Metal Band was playing. They took traditional Turkish songs and beefed them up metal style - they were actually an amazing band, and the guitarist played these insane solos. I got up and danced even though I didn't know the music - it was great music and very catchy. More dancing and more drinks, the night paused as the police came through and checked everyone's ID. And then more dancing and drinks :)

Friday: Hangover from hell. B dragged me down to the exclusive lounge floor for deluxe suite guests and we had a buffet breakfast. I felt like a pile of junk. Some food and a swim soon got me moving again. Eventually went to the "stripey" restaurant, where all the decor and furniture was covered in red stripey material and the food was INSANE and fresh and delicious. More walking around side streets and back streets. Got a manicure and a pedicure (total bargain). Back to the hotel, and down to the Fish Market Street to a traditional Turkish restaurant for fresh seafood and traditional live music and singing and clapping. We then found a comfy cafe and had tea and a waterpipe and B taught me how to play draughts..

Saturday: we went to the Palace Topkapi - which was stunning and had great views of the Bosforus. Then onto the Ayasofya a converted mosque from Byzantine times. Amazing inside to see the mix of architectures, religions and styles. Back to the Grand Bazaar and lunch at our favourite cafe. Caught a tram and metro back to the hotel and got ready and went to the Sunset Grill for cocktails (note, you don't actually get to see the sunset at this place). We then came back to the hotel and went up to the Hotel Restaurant and had a absolutely beautiful dinner.

Sunday: yummy toasted Turkish sandwiches for brekky, then off to the old town to the Turkish Bath - lots of bubbles and scrubbing and washing. Then off for a ferry ride around the Bosforus which was lovely, back to the hotel and dinner at the stripey restaurant again for our last night. Then more tea, draughts and waterpipe..

Monday: off to the airport and back to grey, rainy crappy London :(

So that was my trip - probably one of the best holidays I've had.

PS: I'll be coming back to Australia in December - and I have no idea if it's going to be short or long term - everything's up in the air as I'm still waiting to hear about my visa. All I know is I'll back on 1st December.. In the meantime, I've got lots of more trips planned - going to Switzerland at the end of this month and staying with my cousin, and hoping to cram in a couple more weekend trips - to Vienna and Barcelona before time runs out!

Photos - Cotswolds, Bath and Belgium

Cotswolds & Bath photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133220&l=87f0e&id=863765297

Belgium photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133212&l=8dfe7&id=863765297

Will post more soon.

I love Berlin

I've just gotten back from Berlin and I LOVED IT.

It's green, it's beautiful, it's old, it's new, it's clean, spacious, unpolluted, not overcrowded, there's hardly any cars, there's no traffic, it's cheap, there's outdoor beach bars everywhere and beautiful deep foresty parks, winding "Sprees" (canals)... it goes on and on.

Then there's the history. The Prussian era, French influences, World Wars, the Nazis, the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, rebuilding and rebirth. What an amazing place and the whole world has come together to build a new Berlin and it is truly spectacular. New buildings by world class architects are everywhere. Old buildings are being rebuilt. Most of the buildings in Berlin are less than 10 years old including what look like the oldest buildings. This city has such a beautiful personality and truly blossomed from the ashes it had to emerge from. This city truly puts London to shame!

Here's what I got up to. Firstly - the weather was PERFECT. Blue skies. 30 degrees. Stunning. On my first day, we did a bus tour, and then checked into the hotel. Then I walked into the city Centre into to the Hackescher market area with loads of outdoor bars, beach bars, shops, covered courtyards. More random wanderings and ended up on Museum Island. Afterwards, had a beer in an outside bar outlooking the river and museums. Just gorg. And its the law that beer cannot be altered with preservatives or additives in the beer making process - so strangely I really like German beer. Afterwards, back to our hotel, which was in the Turkish Quarter of Gesundbrunnen (really yummy kebabs there - nice and light, not heavy and greasy).

Saturday, I did a walking tour from 10.30am to almost 6pm. Our tour guide Tom was like a walking history book. I felt like I was on the best school excursion ever! All those boring modern history lessons in highschool suddenly came to life through our very animated guide - I was enthralled. We started at the Ostbahnhoff train station which is MASSIVE. The architecture was amazing and the majority of it is actually underground, so the grand building you see from the outside, is only a proportion of the real actual size. Then onto the Reichstag and another history lesson (or a few history lessons). Then onto the Brandenburg gate. And onto many many more buildings.. more stories, more history, Checkpoint Charlie - its just endless. Stood above the bunker where Hitler shot himself. We saw so much. At the end of the walking tour, we went to the stop of the Reichstag building to the glass dome and watched the sunset. Afterwards, we found a guy with a bike and sat in the back while he peddled us into the Tiergarten to an outdoor beer garden in the middle of this massive mysterious thick forested park. It was dusk, and I felt like I was stuck in some sort of dream, racing through this park. We also passed the victory column (with the big angel on top) and it was closed off to traffic because they were filming a movie there (loads of movies are filmed in Berlin). Anyway, we some beers and headed back to the hotel. Interestingly in the day time in this massive park, there's nude sunbathing, of course segregated into straight naked sunbathing, and gay naked sunbaking.

On our last day we went to the Topography of Terror - an outdoor photo exhibition. Then onto the Jewish Museum with a detour into a market and then onto the East Side Gallery - a part of the original Berlin Wall, still standing and preserved with amazing art and graffiti. I never realised there were 2 parts to the wall - the east and the west with a sandy no mans land in the middle.

Anyway, I have 2 photo albums of photos -make sure you check them both out and everyone - you HAVE to go to Berlin - amazing beautiful city - keen to go back in a flash...

1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122406&l=805ae&id=863765297

2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122401&l=31255&id=863765297

Cardiff

Another quick and lazy blog entry....

Cardiff day trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108714&id=863765297

Food floor party and the French Bar in Battersea:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110087&id=863765297

Lazy blog entry - Easter trip to Scotland, and my new house

Hi everyone,

Well this is going to be quick blog entry.

For easter, I went up to Scotland - visited Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Highlands - which were just gorgeous. And it was insanely cold! And I got snowed on for the first time.

My other news is that I also moved house! I'm now living at Clapham Junction and absolutely LOVE it. The area is great - I'm a couple of minutes walk away from the train for work and still close to London (10 minutes on the train). And my flat is just lovely! Very roomy, and it has a cute little garden. And the area is great - everything is so close and there's tonnes of shops, bars, restaurants.. Very very happy.

Anyway, here's the photos for Edinburgh: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103297&l=ed344&id=863765297

And here's the photos of my new flat: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106303&l=fe00b&id=863765297

Enjoy!

February Fun - birthdays, Paris, Disneyland, rollerdisco and more

Photos - Paris etc

Photos - rollerdisco and more

What a crazy month - here's what's been happening!

12 Feb: met my friend Karen from Canada at Heathrow for her 2 week stay with me.

13 Feb: the grand tour of Brixton. I’d caught an evil cold – it was starting to set in. Sent Karen off to Oxford Street for some shopping and exploring, whilst I rested. That evening we went to the crazy bear cocktail bar for drinks. I had fruity non-alcoholic cocktails.

14 Feb: my birthday! Still sick. Got up at 4.45am – was so early I didn’t even realize it was my birthday. Karen and I caught the Eurostar to Paris. It was FREEZING. Went to Montmatre, Musee D’orsay, a Korean bbq restaurant for my birthday dinner, and to the Eiffel tower that night. It was so cold, you couldn’t even see the top of the tower as it was covered in fog. Ate delicious nutella crepes.

15 Feb: still sick. Haul ass on the interesting train system out to Disneyland. Went on loads of rollercoasters which are all indoors and in the dark. Lots of fun, but very cold and very sick.

16 Feb: get the train out to Versailles. Walk around the Palace gardens (which are massive), then inside King Henry 8th’s apartments, which are insanely luxurious. Then venture into the food markets and buy fresh ingredients to make baguettes. See an amazing cake shop. French food is amazing. That evening we came back to London.

19 Feb: went to the Tutankhamen exhibition at the O2 stadium.

21 Feb: rollerskating at the rollerdisco! Got all dressed up silly. Only fell over the once on my bum. Amazed I remembered how to skate (last time I skated was in primary school). My friend Liz fell over and broke her wrist :(

23 Feb: Karen’s birthday! We Will Rock You – the musical. What a great show. The story is great – set in the future when all musical instruments are banned and its all commercialized crap, and rock and roll has been “erased” from history and of course we have our heroes / rebels or bohemians who try to get it back, sung along to with Queen songs. Bohemian Rhapsody was awesome at the end – it was amazing and very emotional. Went out for dinner afterwards to a Korean and Japanese restaurant in Chinatown – very yum.

24 Feb: I’m finally better after my horrid horrid cold. I attribute getting better to drinking this “interesting” fresh carrot and ginger juice at work every day this week, multivitamins, andrographis capsules and yakult. Hate being sick. Karen is away doing a weekend trip. My plans for the weekend: SLEEP!

25 Feb: Karen leaves :( Hope you come back soon Karen – will miss you.. and London is waiting for you..

Things to come: Edinburgh for easter long weekend (4 days), April - trip to Cardiff, May - Long weekend away in Cornwall (by the beach - yay!). Hope everyone at home is well.. Amanda :)

Australia Day and other random stories

Photos are of my Australia Day in London are here.

How do you spend Australia Day in another country? For me, I cooked up a huuuuge roast lamb, invited my Aussie and New Zealander friends around (Liz and Emma), drank Aussie beer and finished with pavlova. We also listened to the Triple J hottest 100 countdown over the internet.

We then engaged in some silliness with the cardboard cutout of George (Clooney) who I found sitting outside our house the other week, conveniently already cut out where his tongue is (hmmm). And we also had champas.

....And then cocktails at the pub around the corner where more Aussies were to be found. Good thing the pub is only 10 or 20 metres away - makes for a quick trip home! Did not prevent me from having a pounding headache the next day though. Must drink more water. Oh well.

Other random stories - public transportation (and stories about crazy people).

I have 2 stories to share. The first is of catching the tube home one afternoon on a weekend. The tube wasn't packed (for a change). We pull into a station. I can hear loud music coming from somewhere - which is odd - because you never hear loud music down in the tube. There's no mobile or radio reception, and people generally listen to their the ipods or read newspapers. Communication or interaction is not encouraged, unless you're with a friend or shamelessly drunk.

Anyway, the source of the loud music happens to be this very straight looking 50 year old man with a boombox over his shoulder pelting out the tune of "I'm every woman". It was really funny, but again, eye contact is not encouraged. He stumbled off the tube a couple of stations later, boombox and can of beer in hand. Personally I think it's very hobo to drink booze on public transport - but everyone seems to do it here - it's the norm.

My second story occurs at an overland (above ground) train station on the way to work one morning. An old man starts talking to me (whilst I'm thinking "here we go" and rolling my eyes internally). Turns out he wanted to make sure he was getting the right train for his station - which happened to be where I was getting off/going anyway. He also wanted to make sure he didn't fall asleep as well. So I made sure he got the right train with me and we sat on the train together. He'd just bought some fresh fruit as well, and gave me some to eat (I was starving), and made sure he got off the right station with me (he did nodd off a couple of times). So I guess not everyone is crazy here. Although, they are entertaining.. :)