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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

castles and the cold

I'm getting back into real life and Italy is seeming a long time ago. I'm also got more over my compulsion to jump on the next plane and continue travelling! Well, the idea does pop into my head occasionally, but I am enjoying just being in one place with familiar people and things around me.

It has got really cold here. Tonight it will be below zero and I can't go out of the couse with out about 4 layers of clothing along with a scarf and gloves. Montreal was cold, with snow all the time and everything, but it really does feel colder here, with the strong cold wind and the dampness. Fingers crossed I survive the winter without too much trouble!

There is an ice rink in the square outside my work. Very fun to watch people gliding (well more wobbling) around in circles. I'll have a go soon, with some spare clothes in case I stack it!

On the weekend my old house mate Ken took me, Baz and his girlfriend for a drive in the countryside up the coast to Bamburgh Castle. It is very pretty up there, a castle over looking a white sandy beach and out the the farne islands. We had a pub lunch to prepare us for the cold, checked out the very old chruch where apprently St Aiden died (they have the cross beams that he apprently died on in the church), and looked at the graveyard because Ken is a stone mason and had carved many of the new headstones. Random I know.

We went for a bit of a walk along the beach by the castle. Not for too long though as it was so cold! In the picture you can see the sand being blown along the beach like mist.

On the drive home we stopped in Alnwick to go to Grannies Tea Room. We had visited Grannie's on the first drive we went on with Ken so the picture of him and me with our lovely english tea might look a bit familiar.. This time though that had scones so we had a proper english afternoon tea with scones, very quaint.

Chris arrives back in Newcastle on Friday! Hooray! Will be so good to see him after his travels around Europe. It has been almost 6 months since he left. He's not sure where he'll stay for the next 3 months, but fingers crossed he gets a job in Newcastle so he can stay here with me.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Some questions...

An email quiz...

1. Time of starting this test? 7.59pm, Sunday November 6.

2. Were you named after anyone? No

3. Do you wish on stars? Shooting ones yes

4. When did you last cry? can't remember

5. Do you like your handwriting? Yes

6. What is your favourite meat? Roast pork

7. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf? zero CD's on my shelf, most embarrasing album on my iRiver could be... Wham

8. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Most certainly

9. Are you a daredevil? No.

10. Have u ever told a secret you swore not to tell? Yes.

11. How do you release anger? sing, write.

12. Where is your second home? Home at the gold coast.

13. Do you trust others easily? Yes.

14. What was your favourite toy as a child? My doll.

15. What class in school do you think is totally useless? When we had to go to chapel twice a week.

16. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? Yes.

17. Would you bungee jump? No.

18. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No.

19. What's your favourite ice cream flavour? Most things with chocolate fudge in it.

20. What are your favourite colours? green, purple.

21. What is your least favourite thing? being cold.

22. How many people do u have a crush on right now? Only the one.

23. What do you miss most right now? Chris, good weather, family and friends back in Aust.

24. What colour underwear are you wearing? Black.

25. What are you listening to right now? Gez and Mike chatting, while flicking tv channels.

26. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? vermillion. I love the name.

27. What is the weather like right now? Cooooolllllldddd and damp underfoot.

28. Last person you talked to on the phone? Chris from Contiki.

29. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Smile, eyes.

30. Do you like the person who sent you this? Yes, I like both of them (Neet and Row).

31. How are you today? Feeling a bit out of it after sitting on a train for 7 1/2 hours and eating sugary and salty snacks and drinking tea.

32. Favourite drink? Water.

33. Favourite alcoholic drink? Good red wine.

34. Natural hair colour? Red/strawberry blonde/ginger(if I'm in scotland).

35. Eye colour? green/blue.

36. Wear contacts? Yes.

37. Siblings? one sister.

38. Favourite month? November in the southern hemisphere, September in the northern hemisphere.

39. Favourite food? Roast pork with lots of veges. Okonomiyaki. Chocolate.

40. Last movie you watched? Broken Flowers.

41. Favourite day of the year? A hot summer day (so missing the warm weather here!).

42. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out? Yes.

43. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy.

44. Summer or winter? Summer.

45. Do you want your friends to write back? YES.

46. Who is most likely to respond? Unsure. Maybe Lizzie?.

47. Who is least likely to respond? Chris, cause he's on the road

48. What book/magazine are you reading? The Morality of Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith.

49. What's on your mouse pad? It is a piece of newspaper from the travel section.

50. When did you last tell a lie? I don't tell big lies.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Italy!

Arrived home yesterday from an awesome 2 weeks in Italy. I spent 2 days in Rome before joining my Simply Italy Contiki tour around he country.

The tour was fantastic. there were 48 people on the tour, which did seem like a lot at the start but it as a fine amount of people. There were lots of great people, ranging in age from 20 to 35 from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, USA, Japan, Taiwan and Israel. On the tour we travelled from Rome to Tuscany (San Giminiano), Florence, Pisa, Lake Como, Verona, Venice, Urbino, Assisi, Sorrento, the Island of Capri, Pompei and back to Rome. And the Vatican if you count that as separate to Rome. It was amazing to see so many incredible places, all so different. It was really interesting to see the differences between the different regions of Italy. Each place was quite different in looks, food and people. The tour manager was excellent at giving a background on each of the places we visited and an insight into the small differences in culture and language.

I took loads of photos, so it is tough trying to choose which ones to include on this email!

I had such a great time. I'm sure I could write a massive epic on how everything was and what I did, but I am honestly so tired right now. Still need to catch up on some sleep! I'll write something brief now and will write it all down later (maybe on my way to bristol on thursday for work. 4 hour train ride here I come!).

Highlights from the trip:
Favourite spots: Venice was so incredibly beautiful, just like all the pictures and movies that are from there. The gondola ride was great fun.
Capri- a stunning island, so beautiful, house built on hillsides with white cliffs. Gorgeous day too, 24 degrees, sunny, and I even had a swim!

I have put lots of great phots onto the online photo album for you to have a look at. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2e0wkff.aebmz38f&x=0&y=r1h24o

If you have troubles looking at these, give me an email and I'll send you my email and password so you can look at them :)

England has just finished summer time so it get dark at 5pm while I'm still at work! It feels so very strange. Not that happy to be back at work. Would rather be travelling still, I has such a brilliant time!