Kayley's Adventures

Back in London

kayley — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:40:00 GMT

So here we are back in London town. feels so good to not be living out of a pack anymore and actually having a wardrobe. our first day back was awesome because we basically drank tea and watched dvds. slept like a baby.

went back to church again on sunday and had another awesome day.

i turned 20! the girls and i met up in oxford st and went around shops as lucy was leaving the next day. we then went to the movies and saw sweeney todd which was awesome! everybody MUST see it. alison then met up with us and we cooked enchiladas and drank wine and had a wonderful evening (thanks girls :) )

all quite strange that it's all over now. never really thought that i would be able to do all that i have done but it has been an incredible experience and i wouldn't change any of it for the world.

will keep u up to date with anything but especially poland! can't wait!

Amsterdam

kayley — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:34:00 GMT

another 5 hour train trip and we got to our last stopover in europe...amsterdam. a very strange city but eventually it all makes sense. the people are awesome, so so lovely. they basically all speak english which makes life a lot easier as well.

we stayed pretty much in the town centre. right near the red light district which is one of the strangest areas i think i have ever been in. (even stranger there being a kindergarten right in the middle of it)

we did our free walking tour again of the city. worked out how to know our way around the city if we ever got lost by using the canal system as there are 4 main ones. got some quirky information about the city (eg. anywhere that serves food, by law, must have a cat on the premises because of the rat problem) saw anne frank's house as well. the city is rather quiet, there's not much to do there but we had a pretty good time.

on our last day we went to the sex museum which was pretty disturbing but kinda funny, and also ate the best pancakes! (yes pancake parlour, it beats u by far) lucy and i had to get ourselves pumped for the trip back to london as we got the bus which took 12 hours.

Paris

kayley — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:09:00 GMT

WOW! what a fantastic city. Paris has the most incredible scenery and history just everywhere you look. we were in the 'city of romance' which was very fitting for lucy and i seeing as we had spent the past 2 months together so now we could have some lovely dates together...hehe.

only took us 5 hours on the train to get there so we weren't too exhausted when we arrived at our hostel. mind u were had the room which was on the top most floor and the furthest away so by the time we got into that we were buggered. we got our baguettes, our favourite cheese each, some salami and coke and we were set for the night. how very french!

went out that night to 'cafe oz', an australian bar incredibly enough, unfortunately it was incredibly expensive but had a good night out.

had a very big sightseeing day on our first day. lucy and i went on the free walking tour which went for about 3 1/2 hours and was fantastic! we started off in the latin quarter and place saint-michel, notre dame and worked our way along the seine, across pont neuf (King Henry IV built this bridge and decided he wanted sculptures of all his friends faces so he had a massive party, invited all of them over, got them drunk and then had a painter sketch their faces which in turn where sculpted onto the bridge. the faces are hilarious!), through to the louvre. saw the cafe where camille des moulins stood up and made his speech on 13th july 1987 which, in turn, got the peasants reared up for the next day...bastille day! walked through the tuilleries gardens and all the way to place de la concorde (is now a massive junction but was the place where the guilltine stood during the revolution) we saw Paris' most expensive hotel and could see all along the champs elysses to the arc de triomphe. also got a great view of the eiffel tower. finished off at the grand and petit palais over looking an incredible bridge which led to hotel des invalides.

after all of that lucy and i made our way back home, starting to feel a little weary and got a nutella crepe. OH MY!!

after dinner the 3 of us went back to the louvre in order to see all those amazing paintings. of course we saw the mona lisa but us girls were more fascinated with the renaissance paintings, marriage at cana, the oath of horatii, the crowning of napoleon etc etc. was a fantastic evening.

the next day we walked to the spot where the bastille once stood and then made our way to Paris' major cemetery which was absolutely massive! we saw oscar wilde, delacroix and jim morrison's graves but people such as chopin, rossini and jimi hendrix are also buried there. got a little creepy after a while so we left and went to the notre dame, this time heading inside (have to mention that for about half an hour got very cranky and miss jessica for leading me to a very scary person dressed as an egyptian sarcophagus!) notre dame was incredibly busy so couldn't get too much atmosphere but was beautiful nevertheless.

the next day was just lucy and myself so a lot of walking once again. we went to the opera house which was magnificent (this was the one where the phantom of the opera comes from)we then ate lunch in a park where one of the world's oldest universities still stands and then to the pantheon where voltaire and rosseau are buried.

that night we went on another free tour but this time it was around montmatre. we started off at the moulin rouge which looked strange and almost fake and then passed the house where van gogh once lived, the cafe where picasso ate as well as his studio. france's oldest vineyard and of course sacre cour. was really beautiful at night as it was all lit up. quite an incredible building, especially when u learn the history behind it as it was basically built by slaves. the stone that it is created from gets whiter the more it rains which i thought was pretty cool. we had a lovely view of paris by night as well. on our way back down the hill we walked along a street which has been there since the 13th century and where the word 'bistro' comes from. (the russians used to yell out 'BISTRO!' when they wanted their food brought out quickly, hence the word's history)

our last day in paris was incredibly well spent. lucy and i walked all along rue de rivoli and then went our separate ways while she went shopping for books and i sat in the tuilleries gardens making friends with ducks and eating my cheese baguette. when we met up again we walked ALL the way to the arc de triomphe. (this is set on a MASSIVE roundabout which no insurance company in europe will insure any car for!!) the shops there were incredible, it was designer name after designer name. i begged for some cartier but no luck there.

after that we moved along to the eiffel tower and walked to the 2nd floor. had a fantastic view of paris from all angles. the best was when we came down, it was dusk and there was a beautiful sunset which meant the sky was pink and the eiffel tower was lit up and sparkled on the hour.

thank goodness paris has a lot of landmarks otherwise lucy and i would have not had a clue where to go. we eventually found our way back to one of the streets we needed and when we got home we worked out that we had walked 14km that day! we really spend our time well in paris and im so thankful that we stayed for the full 4 days. it was a beautiful city, absolutely picturesque and everything and more than i imagined it to be.

Nice (N-ee-ce)

kayley — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:05:00 GMT

finally able to catch up on the details of the trip now!

so after rome lucy, jess and i hopped on a train to Nice. this wasn't too bad a journey for 12 hours we had to spend on the train. got pretty scary at times it being so dark and with a few scary people being there but we arrived safely in a a place that had lots of sun and beach!

Nice was basically a nice (no pun intended) stopover in order for us to catch up on a bit of sleep. get on the internet for a little bit and cook an awesome stir fry. lucy and i caught the tram in the afternoon to the beach, walked around for a bit and it was just beautiful. the sun was out, the sky and water was blue and everybody who was out and about were there for just to rest and be. it was wonderful. got us prepared and ready for PARIS!

Rome & Vatican City

kayley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:03:00 GMT

WOW! Rome is an absolutely incredible place to be. seemed a bit dodgy when we walked out of the train station but our hotel was nice enough and the pizza once again cheap and awesome. we had an extremely early night as we were all buggered but got up early to do everything that Rome had to offer.

off we set on the bus to the Vatican City. a country on its own accord, it was incredible. when u walk in u are awestruck by the utter immensity of St. Peter's Basillica. I will never get over the absolute magnificence of these European buildings. St. Peter's was amazing inside, it is the home of a sculpture done by Michaelangelo when he was 25 of Mary holding Jesus and has the list of all the Popes in history. It took us ages to work our way around the building and to eventually find our way out and when we did we walked around the city to find the Sistine Chapel. Of course we were only really there to see what everybody knows, Michaelangelo's painting of man's fingertips touching God's but bloody hell I swear they took us around the country 5 times before we got there. there were so many people around and it got really stuffy but by the time u reach the chapel u realise why it is u came. the paintings were incredible and it was a surreal moment in my life once again.

our legs were already exhausted from walking florence the day before but we trudged along towards piazza nuvona. on the way we found a cafe with cheap pasta and OMG it was incredible. we had the perfect italian experience in a beautiful cafe. with our tummies full we made it to the piazza which is famous for its beautiful fountains.

next was the pantheon, a building that is as wide as it is high and was built 'before Christ'. the dome has a massive hole in it and also houses Raphael's tomb. the thing we were really looking forward to though was a particular gelati store...over 100 flavours and even more that were mousse and frozen yoghurts! i think ive found my haven. next was the trevi fountain, something i was really looking forward to. jessi and i threw our 2 coins, the first to return to rome and the second to make a wish. (keep ur fingers crossed for me!) the next tourist spot was the spanish steps at the piazza de'spagna. nearby was a cafe where casanova, goethe, wagner and keates all drank coffee (not together though) we wanted to go in but the waiters were in their tuxes and we figured if we were going to get a coffee there we would have to share it between the 3 of us and it would still be too expensive.

so off we trotted once again, having already walked half way across rome, towards the colosseum. by this time i was hitting the wall again and again and going slightly crazy but then i saw piazza venezia and spotted the colosseo and was utterly excited. nearby were masses of roman ruins and i felt like i'd hoped into a time travelator. the colosseum is absolutely huge and we walked all the way around, meanwhile running away from the scary sleazy men dressed as ancient romans.

more and more walking and before we knew it we had walked all the way from the vatican city (far west rome) back home to the hotel (far east rome). we had dinner at the station and prepared ourselves for the 11 hour train trip overnight to nice.

ciao to italy, mi amore!

Florence

kayley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:49:00 GMT

got up at quarter to 5! ggrrr! headed over to florence. had the scariest incident with a guy on the train who watched me sleep and then stared at us the whole way. felt very uncomfortable then but once again we survived and made it to florence, the home of the medici family and botticelli's duomo. my first impression wasn't that fantastic because we werent in the prettiest part of town and when we arrived in our hostel nobody was there so we actually checked ourselves in but afterwards we made the most of the day and headed east to pisa for an afternoon trip.

the most surreal moment of the trip so far. the tower does lean and yes i got a corny photo of me holding it up...im sorry but its me, i have to do these things. the area where the tower, catherdral and dome are was beautiful as it was surrounded by the greenest of green grass and had a nice market running along side it. we got lost in the city as we just kinda headed towards the river arno but cos its so small we basically just gave ourselves a free walking tour of the whole city.

homewardbound for the night and up early the next morning to fit in everything that florence had to offer. we ended up being 2nd in line to get into the Uffizi gallery (u can end up waiting up to 3 or 4 hours sometimes) and saw primavera and the birth of venus by botticelli. they were incredible in real life. then headed over the ponte vecchio (a bridge which initially had butcher shops along it but now has goldsmiths because of the medici rule) and had a lovely italian cafe experience with fantastic coffee. walked all the way to piazzale michaelangelo where we got an incredible view of the whole city. it was here that i hopefully continued a flukes tradition of a photo in florence.

all the way back into the city centre we passed through the markets and into the palazzo vecchio where the florentine government was housed and saw the fake David. we then wanted to climb the Duomo, built by Botticelli, nothing else is quite like it, but it was a sunday so we couldn't and instead climbed the campanile, or the bell tower. 414 steps later we were catching our breath whilst overlooking florence.

obviously hungry after this we ate the apparent 'best pizza in florence', walked past the medici chapels and went to see David. Had an interesting account with the security guard at the gallery when the metal detector beeped at me. he asked me to striptease and then proceeded to sing something along the lines of 'you can leave ur hat on' while i took off my coat. gotta love these italian men, they just can't handle the blonde hair at all.

David was incredible. I didn't think it was going to be such an jaw dropping experience but it really was. the detail and his butt!!! we had to move on before things got uncomfortable so we headed home and went out for our night out in Italy.

found an awesome bar called josua's tree pub, made friends with paolo, the door bitch and had a great night. we stayed about 3 hours after closing time!

first impressions of florence not so good but really like the city now. a bit anxious about rome because of the pickpockt stories ive heard :S

Venice

kayley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:40:00 GMT

The train trip to Venice was pretty much deadly. 8 hours long but at least the view of the Italian alps was pretty and we had some lovely Italian women sitting with us teaching us Italian and telling us to marry their sons. LOL

arrive in Venice and it all felt quite surreal. there really is no other place in the world like (as far as ive seen anyway). we had to catch the bus (yes the bus...a water bus) to our hotel and met jessie! YAY! the hotel was amazing, we slept in true Italian style. we also ate in true italian style by ordering the most massive pizza possible for about 9 euros (the equivalent of about 13 bucks) and drinking wine.

the next day was filled with wandering the streets (yes there are streets in venice) and finding our way to the main attractions. jess stopped off for about 5 espressos along the way so by the end of the day she was craaaazy jessie! we saw the rialto bridge and popped into all the markets so check out the beautiful murano glass and venetian masks that basically every store sells. next was st. mark's square where i had the best fun for 20 cent ever! the money was spent on pigeon food and the fun was the feeding that didnt even really take place and us girls got attacked and mauled by all the birds. they sat on our heads, arms and just flapped by us constantly. we went into st. mark's basillica which was incredible and then stood by the Doge's palace.

another evening of fantastically cheap and tasty pizza and wine and venice was over before we knew it.

Salzburg

kayley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:34:00 GMT

A 2 hour train trip through the mountains and we arrived in Salzburg. The city of Mozart and the Sound of Music. The mountain ranges surrounding the city were incredible, the castle was placed so that it overlooked the city and we got a fantastic view from our hostel. Us girls were able to walk around all day and take in what the city had to offer. We made our way to the catacombs and then to Mozart's birthplace. Yep, i was in the house where Mozart was born and lived. Saw his very first violin and piano as well as his clavichord.

Lou and I then made our way to the Mirabell gardens. ring any bells?? didnt think so but i found what we were looking for and that was the steps and fountain where the von Trapp family sing Do Re Mi! Had a lovely dance around the fountain with lucy (yes we looked like idiots and yes the locals laughed at us but we're allowed to have our fun)

Munich

kayley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:24:00 GMT

got to munich quite late on the sunday night and headed to our hostel which seemed pretty good until we realised there were a 2 freaky guys sharing the room with us. of course knowing me i was a bit freaked out but there were eventually harmless and we survived the night which was good.

our first day in munich as fantastic. we went to the city centre, marienplatz, and met for our free walking tour. the weather was freezing which was a bummer but the walk was incredible. there was so much history in munich! we saw the glockenspiel, the room where Hitler and Goebbels met on the night of Kristallnacht, Dodger's Alley where the German people walked up to avoid saluting a Nazi memorial during the war, the main church, the bier house, maximillian strasse where the most incredible shops and cars were and the opera house.

i then caught the train to olymnpia-zentrum station where the munich olympic stadium is and the BMW headquarters. the BMW museam was closed so i went into the welt which was basically a showroom with the most beutiful cars and all this information and interactive stuff to do with the engineering of the cars. most of it went over my head but it was cool.

got myself completely lost in the city and eventually found hofbrauhaus, the beer house, and lucy, anna and i sat down for a typical german meal with a stein of beer (thats a whole litre of beer!)

the next day was incredible. we caught the train and had a tour of Dachau, the first concentration camp in Germany where they held prisoners of war, Jews and anyone who opposed the Nazi regime. The mood was eerie but the information and what we saw was absolutely moving. I think the details are better left to be told in person.

really loved Munich as a city and was sad to be leaving Germany :(

CONTIKI (Vienna)

kayley — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:21:00 GMT

ok, now im in love...and i really mean it. vienna is absolutely amazing. before we arrived there though we had a quick stop off in kutna hora, a small czech town. we went into the ossawary which is a bone museum which was pretty freaky because a guy had basically used thousands of human bones to create a gallery of chandeliers and other strange collections.

the hotel in vienna was awesome, fantastic beds and showers which was exactly what we needed. got there later in the arvo so after dinner headed out to the 'bermuda triangle' basically the pub/club area of vienna where there are 28 different places to choose from. had the best strawberry/vodka shooters as everything was half price for the night.

the next day was, i think, the best day of contiki overall. we all got dropped off by the bus in town near the statue of maria theresa, the only empress of vienna, which was massive (basically everything is massive and incredibly beautiful in vienna)we walked through the streets and gawped at everything we passed by. the church was magnificent and the more i looked, the more i fell in love. we saw the memorial against war and fascism which was built over a safehouse that had been there during WWII and where about 100 people died, saw the 'sacher hotel' which was the beginning spot for sachertorte, an amazing viennese chocoale cake. then onto the stephensdom which totally blew my mind. it was magnificent. i walked in and couldnt believe my eyes, there was a wind symphony playing as well which really added to the atmosphere and i could have sat there for hours on end.

lou and i then went to the 'haus de musik' or the music museum where we had heaps of fun. we created our own waltz duet by rolling dice and conducted an orchestra as well (pretend of course) we are mozart's balls (chocolate of course) had a MASSIVE schnitzel for lunch, walked past all the stars on the path of famous musicians including strauss, haydn, tchaikovsky etc. after that was the schnapps musuem where we learnt all about the famous austrian drink and got plenty of tasters as well. rocketfuel was fantastic (made from chillis) there was also schnapps with gold dust, absinthe and plenty more.

after this i got the chance to dress up for dinner at the schonbrun palace, the summer palace for the habsburgs during the reign. once again it was an absolutely incredible building and the whole night was amazing. we had a full 3 course dinner with a great glass of wine and then we sat down and watched an ensemble of 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello, piano and clarinet who played mozart and the strauss family music. it included 2 amazing opera singers and some very average ballet dancers but it was beautiful. brought tears to my eyes when i realised that i was sitting in a palace in vienna listening to the music of mozart and strauss. i will never forget that.

our last night was a big one, as u can expect. sad to leave but got some good mates out of the whole experience. had the absolute time of my life but now have to get back to the reality of staying in hostels and working out our own way how to get around. we've managed so far so keep ur fingers crossed for me.

CONTIKI (Prague)

kayley — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:12:00 GMT

the next 3 nights we were all in prague. i had lots and lots of expectations of beauty and the city being a spectacle so i was a little bit disappointed when i arrived because it is more of a medieval city rather than a city covered with classical buildings. its also considered a rather dodgy place because of all the tourists so peolpe are constantly trying to rip you off, there are even fake ticket inspectors who give u "fines" on the spot...however i still loved it and my photos are amazing.

before we went out drinking that night we had a nice night walk and saw the astronomical clock (meant to remind u that u are just a mortal being...how lovely) the main square that was in was beautiful and there were piles and piles of snow all around. drank typcial czech beer which was one of the best beers ive had so far so another big night later we'd all had fun.

the next day we had a walking tour of the prague castle, absolutely huge! a really pretty church as well inside. it was -2 degrees while we were walking around!!! charles bridge was fantastic (mission impossible was filmed there) i touched the gold priest for good luck and to make sure that i could come back. we then went on a cruise for lunch along the vltava river (was great for me because of smetena's piece 'moldau' which i love listening to which is all about the journey of the river) another big night out clubbing at a place which is 5 clubs in one, basically each level has different music and u can go to any level u like all for one admittance fee...heaps of fun!! however we did get lost on the way there (thanks lucy) so we got to see a lot more of the city than we'd planned to which was good but luckily sare and i were there to save the day

had a nice walk around prague the next day and went to the jewish quarter, the markets etc. were absolutely exhausted from the night before so we all had a nice early night. ready to go to vienna!

CONTIKI (Berlin)

kayley — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:03:00 GMT

so wow! where the hell do i start?? contiki was the best fun of my life, never have a drunk so much and seen so much in 9 days.

started off in Berlin, 95% of the people on tour with us were aussies which was cool. we all hung out the first night...blah blah blah. the next day was filled with sights, we were mainly in east berlin, we saw the memorial part of the wall, the reichstag, brandenburg gate, the berlinerdome, the sight where the book burnings occurred, the national german history museum, ate bratwurst (yuummmm)It snowed!! our first european sighting of snow and it was absolutely magical. it was incredible to be in such a place where so much history had happened.

that night we all went out for a german dinner and on a pub crawl. we got plenty of free schnapps and had an awesome night out.

the next day was the coldest day of our trip so far. we were going to go on our free walking tour but the rain made the day unbearable to we made our own way to the holocaust memorial. that was incredible, looks really plain from the outside because its just cement blocks but its symbolism cuts deep. took sarah, me and the 2 boys about 2 hours to find our way home, bloody berlin train system is sooo confusing. had a nice hot bath and then went out to find joe's beer garden which was closed but sare and i had a nice walk around the city and saw the church which was totally gutted by a bomb during WWII. it looked absolutely incredible.

really enjoy speaking the german language. its nice to have sarah around who can teach me all the words so now i can kinda speak a little to the locals. WOOHOO!

on the way to prague the next day we made a 2 hour stop off in dresden. WOW! i was totally in love, it was the most amazing city to walk around in because of the immensity of the buildings and the history of them. the whole town was pretty much destroyed in 12 hours by allied bombings, 45,000 killed and yet the town has so much beauty.

Adventures So Far

kayley — Thu, 3 Jan 2008 12:14:00 GMT

hey kids, sorry its been so long but with the amount of adventures we've been having ive been needing all the rest i can.

xmas was great fun, went to my grandparents' house and got looked after like kings, heaps of food, drink and love all around :)got the flu which put a downer on things but at least i had my grandma to look after me YAY!

came back from bath well rested and went to stay at jess' for a few nights. ana arrived so then there were 5. met up with an irish friend and went on the london eye again which wasnt as good as last time, a bit on the foggy side. we then all met up in brick lane for indian. after dinner it was off to 'the ten bells' the pubs which jack the ripper's prostitute victims used to drink in. pretty cool huh?

on sat jess, lou, sarah and i went into town to go to the london dungeons. holy crap it was so much fun but so bloody scary (no pun intended) it was almost like a theme park, but we walked around in a group and got some education about serial killers, torture methods and the scary times in london's history. sarah and i were practically siamese twins the whole time because we were holding on to each other for dear life. a pair of 6 year olds were less scared than us!! we got some fantastic photos which jess will scan for us.

on sunday, we had a MASSIVE day. i got up early and met alison for coffee YAY! we then all headed to kentish town (obviously its not 'kent' enough to be called kent town hehe) and went to a place called 'the church'. it was a sunday and it went from midday until 3:30 in the arvo and it was the most fun ive had in ages. drinks were really cheap and the music was awesome. old rock and tunes we could all sing along to. have a look at the photos and ull realise how much fun we had. the crowd was basically aussie, south african, new zealand and 1 or 2 pommies. after, the place to go was 'walkabout' and aussie pub in shepard's bush and literally EVERYONE from church was there. so, by the end of the night, us girls had spent 14 hours out and drinking and having the time of our life.

after a few rest days im now back in high barnet with sarah, spending our time watching 'life on mars' an awesome british show all about a guy who's in a coma and 'wakes up' in 1973 and is trying to get back to his life in 2006. absolutely addictive tv! way too much chocolate eating as well.

so now off to berlin on sat for our contiki tour and month of travelling around the continent. really looking forward to it but dreading the exhaustion afterwards.

love u all xx

London

kayley — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:43:00 GMT

Yes I know we've already been to London but now we're really getting to experience it. It's been fantastic so far. had the most incredible day yesterday as it was a trip down memory lane. I went to 25 porten rd...my old home!! very weird seeing it as it was 10 years ago that i left. also saw redcliffe, my old school and recognised many things around there including the old church where we had our services as well as the park where we had our school photos taken every year. walking, walking, walking, all day long. went into kensignton high st, all the way up to the palace and all around the gardens. they were just as beautiful and peaceful as i remembered. saw the peter pan statue :) more and more walking until i reached the monstrous memorial to prince albert and the royal albert hall. then onto harrod's. gotta love that place! everything's ridiculously over priced but it's ok because it's harrod's so it doesn't matter. when i walked out onto the street it started to snow! it was so christmassy and special, it really put a smile on many peope's faces. then all of us girls met up (jess has arrived!) and shared probably a little too much wine. went into covent gardens today which was really cool. the markets are fantastic! hope everyone's well and looking forward to christmas. k xx

Uh Oh!

kayley — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:04:00 GMT

... after finally reaching home in london lucy and i decided to sit down with dinner and watch '300'. unfortunately we didn't get to watch all of it...i ended up in hospital!!! had the most incredible pains in my stomach. screaming in pain actually. scared the 'bejaysus' out of lucy and called the ambos. spent an hour or so in the ER and then got told that all i had was excess acid in my stomach...how boring! had some gaviscon and got sent home. all good now :) we now have sarah with us! spending the week in london to do all the sights and sounds. went on the eye last night and the view was incredible. didn't realise that london had such a beautiful skyline. we went at about 4:30 which meant that it was dusk and it was the most perfect timing. lucy and i did madame tussauds today. got a photo with JT, Jamie Oliver and Capt. Jack Sparrow!! And Brent, just for u, i got a photo of me cycling next to lance armstrong. it's great when he's a wax figure, it means i can catch up :) well now im finally up to date with everyone. hope the adventure stories weren't too boring for u. of course more details when i actually get to speak to u and show u the photos. hope ur all missing me ;) k xox

Catching Up

kayley — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:56:00 GMT

hey kids, sorry it's been so long. not much access to the internet and been really busy. which i guess is a good thing but now u know that im still alive! woohoo! after dublin lou and i went west to galway in ireland. the best place EVER! pubs were awesome and met some really nice guys as well. actually thinking of going back there to work when I'm done with my first bit of travelling. it was a little town with great locals. i bought an awesome mug for my tea which is massive and has the guiness sign on it (for all those who know how much i love tea, ull realise how big this mug has to be) stayed there for 3 nights and then went north to belfast. not much there and probably won't go back in the future. after galway it just seemed too big, boring and industrial. we then had a big trip up to edinburgh. 2 hours on the ferry and then 5 hours on the bus. it was the most incredible, beautiful city! we looked to our left on the bus and there were heaps of shops and all that and then to our right was the castle, the old bank of scotland and some of the most amazing historial buildings. we stayed near the royal mile which was cobbled and it just felt like we were going back in time. we did a free tour around the city and learnt heaps, some great stories which ill tell u all about when we go through the photos. and then lucy and i sat in a little cafe called 'the elephant's castle'. we had a yummy hot chocoalte (mine with baileys...mmmmmmm) and shared some caramel slice. u may be thinking, why is she putting in this detaill?? well, it was the cafe that the famous j.k. rowling wrote harry potter in!!!! after 2 nights in edinburgh we went down to york which was bloody freezing and saw all the viking stuff. we only spent 1 night there and then took the 5 hour bus trip back home to london to be continued....

Night Out

kayley — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 17:46:00 GMT

had our night out in dublin the other night and went to temple bar which is pretty much the party/pub district that u go to when in dublin. we went to 'temple bar' pub (original huh?) and it was AWESOME! we drank guiness (not too bad after all) and danced along to the traditional irish music which was lots of fun. met some swiss guys and learnt some german which will come in handy.

overall, dublin can party well!!

Dublin

kayley — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 05:49:00 GMT

did some sightseeing today. saw good 'ole st. patrick's cathedral. was annoying because there was scaffolding on the spire and it cost to get in!! being the stingy student tourists that we are we decided to go in and then out, therefore not spending all of 4 euros.

also went to the museum which was intersting. all about the vikings and medieval times in ireland. i then got lost and walked myself off the map (trust!) but eventually found myself again and warmed up with a good coffee.

lucy and i acted even more like stingy student tourists by going out for dinner and ordering a 3 course meal and sharing it. was really good though and filled us up nicely. we then saw 'the darjeeling limited' at the movies which u all have to see. awesome movie!!

were pretty stuffed because of the night before so we headed into bed early.

now in galway, very irish and is complete with the irish fiddler outside our hostel room. very excited to be here!

hope ur enjoying the hot weather back at home. it is currently 7 degrees outside with a low of 3 so will be FREEEEEEZING when we head out tonight.

Dublin

kayley — Wed, 5 Dec 2007 16:31:00 GMT

so we left liverpool at 10pm last night in order to catch the ferry overnight to dublin. we thought this would be good because that meant we didnt need to worry about accommodation for that night. BUT and it's a big but, it was a pretty bad experience. there were ferry cancellations sue to GALE FORCE WINDS!! which meant we were running late and then it was so choppy that of course i got sea sick. not fun at all. got about 2 hours sleep. poor lucy got nada.

we eventually arrived at our hostel (25 euros for 2 nights!!!) about 7am but weren't able to actually to get into our room until 12. GGGRRRR! so walkies we thought and walkies we did. we walked, and walked and walked some more in order to get a taste of dublin. nice city, heaps of pubs (will trial them out tonight) their lamp posts are really pretty and they're seems to be beer everywhere u turn. especially of the black kind.

we're in a 6 bed shared dorm which is pretty crowded even though there's only 4 of us in the room but it's a roof over our heads.

MAROON 5 CONCERT!

kayley — Wed, 5 Dec 2007 02:56:00 GMT

OMG!! one of the best ever concerts ive ever been to. rohan, u HAVE to go, i will personally come back home in order to make sure that happens if i have to. adam levene was absolutely gorgeous as per usual and we had awesome seats that got us looking straight out onto the stage.

u really dont realise how good this band is until u see them live. the drummer is cool as and the lead guitarist...awesome. so really is was the greatest night in london so far. wembley was a little disappointing, i thought it was going to be a bit bigger and the crowd took a while to warm up but once we were all standing the party got going. took us AGES to get home and it was freezing (what more can u expect from london).

in completion, anyone who likes maroon 5, ull get what u paid for and so much more. ill put up photos whenever i can xoxox