When my mum was 6 her family moved to England to live in Birmingham where she made friends with another littler girl. 50 years later these girls are still friends, still in contact and that is who I have just spent time visiting. Having visited Mums friend and her family a few times before our two families have a pretty special friendship and Im lucky that me and her kids get on so well. In my lifetime I have spent a total of 7 weeks with these people but they are my second family and I have adopted them as my new English family while Im away.
They live in a little village called Hawkesbury Upton which is about 30 mins away from Bristol. the few days I spent there were so much fun. First day involved a sunny pub lunch in a neighbouring village followed by a nap on the couch watching the in-betweeners (which is the most hilarious English show in the world). Following day we did the drive out to Stonehenge and Avery which were really interesting. As our hosts pointed out "why would you want to go look at some rocks in some grass?" but I was determined to see the sights. With an audio commentary and walk around and hour later I decided it really was just some rocks in some grass but worth a look all the same.
To break up our time in England we drove from Hawkesbury Upton up to Burton Upon Trent (ohh how i love english names for towns). We went to visit my Grandfathers cousin and stayed in their little cottage which was over 200 years old. In fact it was built before captain cook discovered Australia. It was the cutest little cottage with open fireplaces and ceilings so low at some points even I had to duck to get through doorways. On our full day there we went to Litchfield to see their cathederal and have a walk around the little village. What i love about England is that everything is only ever one or two hours drive away. It means you can spend the day seeing a sight, stop for lunch then be home in time for a nanna nap.
After a couple of days in Burton Upon Trent we headed back to Hawkesbury for a birthday BBQ. It was by far one of the best days i've had all trip because the sun was shining and it was hot enough to just wear a dress and pluggers. I even put on sunscreen because i was getting a little bit burnt! I tell you what though, Aussies are pretty famous for BBQ's but I must say the English could give us a run for our money. Not only did we feast like crazy but drinking lasted all arvo and night with many new fun drinking games. One included me running and stacking it but it didn't hurt due to the amount of cider I had downed before running. After the sun went down and it got a bit colder we spent the night in the conservatory playing more drinking games, having a sing along and basically just hanging out. It was really nice to hang out with a group of people around my own age as it had just been me and the family (where Im the youngest) for a few weeks and I was missing a bit of company.
After recovering from the BBQ on the Sunday (spent shopping, eating and watching a karaoke competition) the next day we did the drive out to Cardiff in Wales to see the castle. The road trip was fun but getting lost wasn't. Once we finally got there we did the walk around the castle and visited the house. It wasn't as good as the Blarney Castle and Im actually a little bit castled out for now but definately interesting. The best part of this was that I got to go to another country and while I was there I heard 'Land Downunder' playing. As it was our last night in Hawkesbury we all just hung out at home and had a few drinks down at The Fox which is the local pub. Luckily for me I get to go back and visit Hawkesbury in around a months time and Im looking forward to seeing everyone again and being able to stay in one spot for a few days.
Now while all this was going on a certain volcano in Iceland decided to erupt causing major delays to all air travel around Europe and the UK. Me and my dad were due to fly to Turkey and still didn't know if we could get a flight. Lucky for us they opened up the airports on the day we were due to fly out. Unlucky for us our Swiss Air flight was cancelled due to the fact they had no planes at heathrow. So we decided we would stand by for a Turkish Airlines flight into istanbul. They would not let passengers into the terminal unless you had a ticket for a flight on that day so we had to stand outside Heathrow Airport for four hours in the freezing cold until the check in closed for the flights to see if there were any spare seats. We got a seat and had 20 mins to buy a ticket, check in and get to the gate. Finally got on the plane and there would have been about 100 spare seats! Anyways in the long run we got to Instanbul on the day we were sposed to get there and we were lucky enough that we could meet my sister at the airport and travel to our hotel together.
At the hotel we met my uncle who had flown in from Paris and we headed around the corner to a local resturant to have dinner. The resturant was so much fun. We sat on the ground and ordered a round of their local beer which is EFES (and its not too bad). We feasted on hommus and other kinds of dips with turkish bread, then for mains we had shish kebabs and meatballs. While I was in Turkey I had a few nice meals but this one was definately the best.
The next day we had a free day before our tour started so we decided to walk around and see where the wind took us. We ended up getting a ferry across the Boshperous river/inlet/sea/imnotsure and went to the Asian side of Istanbul. After a bit of a walk around the local markets we then got another ferry over the the Europe side of Istanbul. Two continents in less then two hours! After that we headed down to the Grand Bazaar for a bit of shopping. Now im not the kind of girl who likes batering or being hassled while I shop so I didn't exactly enjoy that aspect but It is definately a really cool place to explor and have a look around. I would have liked to buy a lot because it really is very nice (especially the leather) but there was no room in my backpack and i need all the money i can get! I did end up getting a pashmina though and hopefully it lasts the distance because its now my new favourite thing in my backpack.
The next couple of days were with the tour exploring Istanbul and Gallipoli with the help of our guide. In Istanbul we saw the Blue Mosque and the Agia Sophia which were such stunning buildings photos dont do them justice. The mosaics inside them are thousands of years old and still perfectly stunning. We were lucky as we had a tour guide that spoke very good english and had a lot of passion about telling us stories, histories and interesting facts about Turkey. We spent our time at Gallipoli exploring battlefields and gravesites of signifigance to the Anzacs. The graves were beautiful and Im not ashamed to tell you that I started crying because I was so moved. When you see where they landed, the terrain they had to climb and fight through and then you see the graves row upon row of boys that were as young as 16 it just makes you so completely grateful for everything that they (and people in the defence forces now) went through. After this it was a quick dinner then a early night as we had to get up at 12am to leave for the service.
After the early start we arrived at 2am and had to find a seat. It was freezing cold (not as bad as i thought but still) and we had to wait until 5.30 for the dawn service to start. I definately had a bit of a kip although it was extremely uncomfortable. With hot chips and a coke for breakfast at 4am and a visit to the very very very very dirty port-a-loos I snuggled back in and waited. Around 5am they started this light sequence which woke everyone up and prepared them for the service. Its hard to describe the service as it was something you just have to be there to experience but it was definately worth getting up so early for. The speeches made by the dignitorys made you reflect and remember and the ode led me to shed more tears. After the service we did the 3k hike up to the top of Lone Pine where there was a second service for Australians (they also do a seperate service for Turkish and New Zealanders throughout the day). This service was good because it was a little bit more specific and I was a bit more awake. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel in Istanbul and I tell you I've never been more glad to be back in a hotel.
Now the hotel we stayed at in Istanbul was definately nothing flash. In face it was so small me and my sister both couldn't open our backpacks at the same time, and we had a room on the corner of both streets with noise that went into the early hours. You had to practically get a ladder to climb into the shower and when you got breakfast you got tomato, cucumber, cheese and bread. Im telling you now that this place was practically a 5 star mansion compared to the place we stayed at in Gallipoli. Our shower had a door (although other rooms didn't) that couldn't close unless the bathroom door was open defeating the purpose of it at all. The airconditioner wiring was duct taped to the wall and when it decided to actually turn on it only worked at 18 degrees. Me and my sister ended up sleeping in our sleeping bags rather then actually touch the sheets (which had holes in them). So after that experience and spending a night on a cold seat at Gallipoli when we got back to istanbul we were grateful that we had a new room which had a decent hot shower, clean sheets and a bit of room. Due to the fact that we didn't have to get up early the next day I slept like a log.
The last day we had in Istanbul we decided to head to the spice market which is similar to the Bazaar except a bit more food based. We didn't get as hassled and I really enjoyed the browsing all the different things. After that we went back to the Grand Bazaar to pick up a few things that we didn't get the first time. This was followed by a lazy arvo sitting on cushions, drinking EFES and reflecting about the past months family holiday. We followed this up by visiting a english (or close enough to it) pub and eating a steak. Turkish food is amazing but its very limited to the types you can have and it will probably be a little while until I have a kebab again.
Since then I have spent the last couple of days in London with my sister. I was very sad to say goodbye to my Dad at the tube station but i was looking forward to hanging in London with my sister because last time we were here we had a blast. We decided againts doing any touristy stuff as we had done that before so we went to Portobello Road markets and followed by a visit to Oxford Circus (one of the main shopping districts). After needing a break from shopping we stopped into this little pub and ended up having a jug of Pimms. Yummy. It definately picked us up enough to fight the crows in Topshop, H & M and Primark. We were pretty tired after a full day of shopping so we stayed local and had a few drinks in the backpackers bar. It was a good night as I met a few people on my tour and played beer pong.
Today was me and my sisters last day together so we just roamed Camden Markets and did a big walk around Hyde Park. It was a good way to spend our last day because it meant we could chat and hang out without having to worry too much about taking in the sights. It was a sad day thought and I am still feeling pretty down. As I walked her to the tube station I was crying and as I walked all the way back I was crying and infact if there wasn't 10 other people in this room right now I would still be crying. I miss home. I miss my family and the comforts of my own room. I miss my dog. I miss my friends and important people. Im sacred and anxious about the tour to come and right now im freaking out about why I did this at all.
I know that its something I have to do to become a stronger, more mature and well rounded person. I know that i need to learn to be patient, to deal with things as they come, to grow up and stop being a cry baby, to learn how to pack a backpack properly and deal with having no clean clothes and no comfy beds or nice showers. I know i need to do it and I know im going to see some amazing sights and experience some very cool things. I just need to keep telling myself that I will be ok, that its all going to work out and its going to be fun.
Anyways enough of my whinging because after all I am in Europe. Im not sure when I will be blogging next but probably not for awhile. I apologize for the lack of photos and the extreme length of my post but im trying to keep distracted. Next time will be highlights and photos i promise!
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