Bye-bye Scotland!!!

Hi guys,
Just a quick one coz all the batteries are going to die and there's no free wifi! I'm At Glasgow Airport waiting for my plane!! I'm so, so sad to be leaving - I've had such an amazing time! But at the same time I'm really looking forward to seeing all you lovely people back in Australia!!
The past 7 months have gone so fast I can't believe it's almost Christmas and New Year and all that party stuff!! (Guys! What are we doing for NYE, by the way?! I'm thinking city, but then there's all those annoying drunk people ...)
It feels really surreal that I'm going home. I don't think I'll quite believe it until I'm curled up in my Marshmallow bed eating curly fries, and even then it might still feel like a dream!!
I got the email with all of my enrollment stuff yesterday. That's a whole other jar of crazy!!
I guess it feels particularly weird because when I came over here it was a whole lot of unknown - no job, no house, no friends. It was like starting a new book: no expectations and no idea what it will be like. Where as going home is like picking up the sequel to your favourite book in the world: You know the characters and the world inside out and you love them to bits, but you know everything will be a little bit different than how you remember, besides, you're different too. And this time you do have expectations and hopes and predictions about what will happen in this story, but really you have absolutely no idea.
Anyways, not long until boarding starts!!! And a little over 24 hours until MARSHMALLOW BED!!!!
Love you all and can't wait to see you!!!!
xo

On the train back to Scotland ...

I can't believe it's been a week since the Contiki tour finished. For that matter, I can't believe I've been away for over six months!! In five days I will be getting on a plane home!

I had an amazing time with Ruth in Paris! Here are a few pictures:

Me and Ruth in Paris

Repetto is a fancy Ballet shop. I bought new shoes and a gorgeous dancing bag!

Can't wait to try out my new shoes for reals! 

This Chocolate Eclair had chocolate cream in it!!

Pretty Paris just before sunset!

 After Paris I spent a few days in London shopping and seeing shows. I saw this musical called Looserville. I'd seen posters on the tube saying "If you like Greese/The IT Crowd/The Big Bang Theory/etc. you'll like this". It was fun, but not fantastic. The beginning was really great and funny. But then they kept telling the same jokes over and over and over and over again. I might do a review of it sometime ... but that might turn into a rant about how not all "Geeks" are obsessed with - or have even watched - Star Trek, especially the original series.
I also went to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower which was much better than I expected it to be. Still not fantastic, though.

Now I'm on the train back to Scotland. It's 5 hours of really boring so I made Monkey Moo a Facebook page. When I get back to Stirling I will add picks of all the new clothes I bought her. Check it out guys coz she's adorable!!

Til next time
xoxo

The Amazing Pasta Dinner in Venice and The Saga of the Apples!

One of our optional extras on tour was a dinner in Venice. I don't think any of us were fully prepared for the pasta epic we would be served ...

The first course was a plate of meat, a plate of veg and a plate of crispy, deep fried seafood.

First Course

 Then they turned of the lights and presented us with a plate of risotto with a shell that was on fire. There was a carbonara as well, but I didn't get a picture of it. It was the nicest dish of the whole meal.

Second Course

 At this point they realised that I really shouldn't have been eating any of the food because it all had wheat and milk so they started bringing me my own plates of pasta. When they brought the plate for the rest of the table the waiter would say to me, "Not for you, not for you."

Fourth Course

They brought me a plate of (I assume) gluten free pasta as well, but I'd been eating all the food anyway because it was so tasty.
A few days earlier, in the Rhine Valley, all the gluten and lactose free people had been given an apple for dessert instead of the cake or whatever everyone else had. I can't eat apples because they're high in fructose, so I'd felt a little bad. It had become a bit of a running joke with the group that they hadn't known what to give the special diet people, so they ran into the garden and pulled some apples off the tree (that's the story someone made up, anyway).
Back in Venice, after all our plates were cleared we were speculating on what might be for dessert. I made a comment that I hoped I didn't get an apple again because I'd feel bad not being able to eat it.
About a minute later the waiter brought this out ...

Dessert (for me, anyway!)

Us Special Diet people got apple desserts a couple more times on the trip. I was very excited in Florence to get an orange! It didn't taste great, but it wasn't an apple!!

Amazing Adventures in the Land of Europe!

Hello Everyone!!!

I had the most amazing time travelling around Europe with 50 other wonderful people, an amazing tour manager and an incredible driver!! We drove through 8 countries in 12 days from Amsterdam to Paris.

Day One
We left from London at 7.30 am on Tuesday 30th October. It was a pretty long drive through England, France and The Netherlands to Amsterdam with a little break from the bus to get a boat across the English Channel. After checking into our hotel we went on a canal cruise to see the City all lit up, drink wine and beer, listen to cheesey music and get to know our new tour buddies.

Houses and Boats on the canals in Amsterdam

Day Two
We had the morning to look around the city. We went to the Anne Frank museum and walked through the house they hid in. Then we wandered around the streets and got a little lost, but it was fun! We stopped off at Mcdonalds to use the wifi. 

A sign next to our seats at Mcdonalds in Amsterdam

We then got back on the bus to drive into Germany. We stayed in a town in the Rhine Valley. We went to wine tasting after dinner which was surprisingly nice considering I don't usually like sweet wines. We got to try their ice wine (which is wine made from grapes that have frozen while still on the vine). It can only be made in a few parts of the world and only in certain conditions. It's very, very sweet, so while nice, I wouldn't drink a lot.


Day Three
Munich!!
It was a public holiday in Munich the day we arrived.

Munich

All the shops were closed and there was no music or dancing allowed. There's this big clock thing with people that move at certain times during the day, but not when we were there. Also there was no live music in the beer halls.

Pork Knuckles in Munich

But Munich was still amazing. We had a guided tour with a hilarious Canadian guide. Then we went to a restaurant for dinner. They have these Pork Knuckles that are roasted on a spit. It's kind of looks like a lamb shank and tastes like roast pork. But so much tastier! The crackling was the nicest I've ever had (Sorry Dad, I don't think you'll be able to beat it!).
After an amazing dinner, we went to the really massive beer hall. They have massive 1 litre glasses of beer. It was so full of people and so huge!! Then we went back to the hotel for a "quite night" ...

Day Four
In the morning we spent a little more time in Munich because everything was open again. Then we drove to Innsbruck in Austria.
It's a beautiful little town surrounded by amazing snow capped mountains.

Austrian Moountains

I spent ages looking at all the shinies in the Swarovski store. I bought a ring that changes colour as light hits it at different angles. The night in Innsbruck was pretty quiet after Munich.

Day Five
Venice!! Venice is an amazing city. It was my favourite place we went to on the tour.

Our Gondola Driver

It was beautiful with all the canals and the buildings and the shops. We went on a gondola ride through the city while drinking Italian sparkling wine.
Then we wandered around looking at shops and the buildings. There were all these shops with beautiful leather notebooks and calligraphy sets - like that paper shop I love on Degraves Street in Melbourne. There were gorgeous Venetian masks everywhere, too.
After wandering, eating Italian pizza and gelati we decided to find a cafe to relax before dinner.

My Incredible Hot Chocolate in Venice

I had the most amazing hot chocolate. It came as a jug of chocolate and a jug of milk that you poured into a cup to make as rich and thick at you wanted. It was so nice!!!
After hot chocolate we went to dinner.
Dinner was a huge selection of pasta. I don't know how many plates they brought out. They just kept coming! It crazy crazy and really yummy!!

Day Six and Seven
We spent two days in Rome. We visited a few main sites on the night we arrived and had gelati. The lemon Gelati I had in Venice was the best lemon ever and the Chocolate Gelati in Rome was the best chocolate ever.

The Colosseum at Night

On the morning of the second day in Rome we went to the Sistine Chapel which was pretty amazing.
Rome is a crazy place. It is absolutely chaotic. There are so many people and even more cars. I didn't really like it that much.
I had a fun adventure trying to get back to the hotel, though. I managed to navigate the trains okay. When I got to the station I started walking in the direction that I thought the Hotel was in. Just to make sure, I asked in a little cafe. They told me to get on a bus but their English wasn't great so they couldn't really tell me where to get off. I followed the bus for a little bit, but they go faster than I can walk! After a while I wasn't sure that the hotel was as far as I had walked so I waited at a bus stop to ask a bus driver if they knew where is was. These two guys were waiting too. They spoke Italian and I think they spoke French, but they didn't speak any English. They knew the hotel, though. So we got on  the bus and they told me where to get off and what street to go down.

Day Eight

Florence

Florence is beautiful! We wandered around until we found a little market with gorgeous leather bags. I found a stall with more gorgeous leather note books.
That night we had a lovely dinner with live music, lovely food and 1.5 litre bottles of wine. After dinner we went to the Space Electronic Discoteque for dancing! It was so awesome to dance again after 6 months!! And I got to wear the gorgeous boots I bought in Scotland!

Day Nine
We drove to Lucerne in Switzerland. It was gorgeous. More huge snow capped mountains! We went to a shop that sold watches and Swiss Army Knives. They have ones for doing your nails. They're so cute!

Mountains in Switzerland

Our Hotel in Lucerne

We stayed in an old Jail. The rooms were made to look like cells with barred windows and simple beds with foam mattresses. They were thick and on a wooden frame, so it wasn't that uncomfortable. Some people weren't all that impressed, but I thought it was amazing!
You may have noticed that all my photos are of beautiful blue skies and sunshine. I swear they're not photoshopped!! We had amazing weather. It rained occasionally, but mostly it was absolutely beautiful.  Nothing like the last few weeks in Scotland!!

Day Ten
We had a very, very long drive to Paris. After driving for 10 days the last thing anyone wanted was to be on the bus for another whole day! But we made it!! Paris is just as beautiful as the last time I was here. We drove around after dinner to see everything all lit up and pretty.

Day Eleven
In the morning we went up to the very top of the Eiffel Tower. It was really foggy, so you couldn't see very far which was kinda sad. It was still fun!
I found a little cafe to have Crepes and then went to see if I could find a new outfit to wear out that night, but I didn't like anything.
For the last night of the tour we went to the Moulin Rouge. It was amazing! The costumes were incredible, the dancing was corny but really fun, there was amazing acrobatics and fun music. I think all the girls were a bit disappointed that there were only topless ladies and no topless guys, but it was still fun!
Afterwards we went to the bar/club next door to dance the night away.

Day Twelve
Woke up early to say good bye to everyone going on the bus back to the airport and London. It was so sad to say good bye to all my amazing new friends and I miss them all already!!! Hopefully I'll see some of them again at some point!! Being my Nan's granddaughter, I'm already planning the next few holidays in Australia and Overseas!!

I'm staying in Paris with Mum's step-sister until Wednesday. Then I'm going back to London for a few days, then back up to Scotland ... then home!!
Can't wait to see everyone again!! Partying will occur and cupcakes will be baked.

Love you all and miss you so much - new friends and old!!!

xoxoxo