ARE WE THERE YET? Roaming around Europe, July - September 2009 Just Mandy and Me...

I am ALIVE! Just. Its been a long rough ride inbetween the awesome sight-seeing and touring around the countryside. But I will start a the beginning where I almost didnt even get to leave the countryside! Jill dropped me off at the airport and apparently you needed to show them the cared you used to book the plane tickets online. oops...it was at home coz I wasnt planning on taking it with me...thankfully i only needed to tell them the last 4 digits of my card number (which I know off by heart - thank my lucky stars) and then I was off! Slept all the way to Singapore...wondered around the largest shopping airport I have ever seen: Changi , then the very large flight to London, Heathrow. 14.5 hrs dure to bad weather in London and having to circle around for an hour. I was rooted by the end. Got in to heathrow and managed to find my way to the Tube and then work my way to the accomodation where I was to wait for Mandy who flew in from Milan to Gatwick...and was 3 hours delayed. Here i was thinking she was dead, or something worse, and mu phone was dead and SHE had the universal charger with her...not my lucky day. She eventually made it and we spent a less crazy morning persuing the Borough Markets and eating nice food. London was actually way more hectic than I though it would be. We were ALMOST late to most things we booked, such as theatre and such, but managed to look at most things. The Theatre (Oliver) was brilliant. I most amazing experience. And the Brittish Museum was also a highlight. My favourite quote is the train driver saying "This service is delayed due to a passenger UNDER the train at the next station." Isnt that illegal to say that? Apparently someone had committed suicide or something of the sort, and it happens enough that the locals dont really pay much attention. In the hectic rush we were in when leaving to catch the train to go out to Somerset, i left my glasses behind. NOT HAPPY JAN! So now its contact lenses until the glasses can be mailed to Edinburgh, which we reach next week. We spent a day in Cheddar, hiking around the Cheddar Gorge (a gorge made of limestone...largest in England?) and then the aftenoon in Wells, where we toured the famous cathedral and had a pint and stew at the local Kings Head Pub. We have spen the last 2 days in Bath, where we got poured on by very wet rain. yes, wet. We got off the bus in bath and decided to brave the rain and take a nice walk to the accomodation instead of taxi. We should have got a cab! We walked 3 miles UPHILL...steep hill...and got to the backpackers completely drenched. Krissy = ried but happy. mandy = very grumpy. We cheered ouselves up with a trip to the less spectacular Stone Henge (only coz its really small) and the traditional town called lacock, where they filmed part of Harry Potter (yes I have pics). But the best was topping it off last night with a spa and dinner package at England's only thermal spa baths. very relaxing. But today was another matter: A nice train ride to crew, WALES, via newport, but then they overbooked the train to holyhead and there were about 20 people crammed into the end compartments between carriages, standing amongst bags for 2 hours. It was a LONG journey. But we made friends with an Irish couple who we had the luck of running into on the ferry, which was late and ended up docking in Dublin an hours late. Looooong journey. i only mention it because now I smell and am hungry and all I want is a guiness but I have no EUROS! Bugger! So tomorrow is Guiness Tour, Jameson Tour, pub crawl, meeting mandy's mates, and hanging out before heading to Galway. Should be lots of fun. So not too much to mention at this point, but lots of pics waiting to upload and stories to tell later down the track. Hope you are all well. Until next time... Cheerio!