One Year On...

The saying ' Time flies when your having fun' has never been so true. Can you believe it has been a year since I left home and started this adventure? It feels like yesterday I was standing over my backpack stressing about the t-shirts to shorts ratio I had packed and wondering if I could someone get away justifying that fourth pair of shoes. A whole year ago I was saying teary goodbyes to all my friends at home and feeling scared, excited and anxious about what was to come. It was hard and scary and exciting and nerve wracking but it is completely and utterly the best decision I have ever made. I have never been so happy as I have been during my time in Europe and my living in London. There has been some down times and some more tears but overall it has been a fantastic experience and I am looking forward to continuing the amazing times in the next couple (or many? who knows) years.

Well! Since I've basically filling you in on whats been happening during my time here I thought I would do a quick summary of what has happened since I left.

Countries Visited: 20

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Albania, Portugal, Monaco, Vatican City, Amsterdam, Belgium

Countries That I Have Stepped Foot In: (yes this is a real category)

All of the above plus - Montenegro, Serbia and Singapore

Houses Lived In: 2

Nicknamed the 'Egyptian House' due to all of my housemates bar one being Egyptian Elsenham Street was my first residence in London. I lasted all of 6 weeks there with my non social and quite frankly disgusting housemates before the roof fell in and I high tailed it out of that house as fast as I could.

I then spent three weeks dossing with friends before making my way to

Pulborough Road - which we all know was the best thing to happen to me in London. I love it here and am extremely happy to call my housemates my London family because I know that they care for me as much as I do them and they will be friends for my lifetime.

Housemates: 12

In one year I have lived with 12 different people. 6 people in the Egyptian house of whom I am still unsure of their names and 6 my crew at Pulborough. When I moved in there was Fran, Lance, Sammy and Siobhan. Since then Fran has left to go explore South America so we got Jules in and Siobhans boyfriend Matt came over to join her.

Jobs: 3

First job was Topshop - This still makes me shudder. I have not stepped foot into the Oxford Circus Topshop since I got a new job and have enjoyed my time away from that awful place. I think that my dislike of the place has significantly helped my bank balance because I saved so much money not going in there.

Second job was at the NMC - The Nursing and Midwifery Council where I have been doing admin since August. While it isn't my dream job I have enjoyed working with lots of cool people and have made some of my best London friends there.

Third job was at BREW - The Cafe at Clapham Junction (not far from where I live) where I worked on weekends to supplement my income so I could save for more holidays. I was a waitress and it was good to get more hospitality experience (if I ever need it again) and meet some new people but after a few months I got sick of working every weekend.

Nights out on the piss: 1000's

Hahaha ok clearly I'm joking. But there has been a lot.

Festivals/Occasions attended:

Weddings - My cousins Susie and her groom Billy's wedding in Ireland. It may not be a world wide known significant event but it was one of the most important things I could have done during the year I have been away.



Anzac Day - I was lucky enough to be at Gallipoli for the Dawn Service ont he 95th anniversary of our troops landing. I got to share this very amazing experience with my Dad, Sister and two uncles who had all made the journey to Turkey after the wedding in Ireland.




Pamplona (Running of the Bulls) - I was there for the crazy messy insane experience that is the opening ceremony of Pamplona and the scary yet thrilling running of the bulls.



Oktoberfest - By far one of the best experiences of my life. I spent three days drinking beer with Shea and my cousins Johnny, Robyn and Nick. Steins were huge, the pretzels were salty and the fun was non stop. Dancing on tables and using school girl german to chat to the locals is something I hope that I never forget.



Firsts:

House - There were a few things I did for the first time since leaving home with the main one actually being moving out of home! No longer living with Mummy and Daddy and while I miss their company (especially Mums cooking) I am loving doing my own thing and having my own house (even if there are 5 other people in it).

Wedding - The occasion wasn't just an important part of my trip but the first wedding ceremony I have ever been to!

Sailing - the first time I have ever sailed a boat was in Greece and it is definitely something I would be keen to do again. Those three days out on the water were amazing and I am happy that the Captain Vanessa and First Mate Arron from my boat are now living in London with me. They are also now dating which is great because at their wedding I can say I was there when they met and fell for each other! hahaha



I am sure there are many many other firsts that have happened while I have been away but these are the biggest!

There have also been many other adventures, events and happenings along the way but I won't repeat myself because if you have been following my progress through this blog then you will know all the details and excitements of my life in London.

For those of you at home who are readers I just wanted to say while I love my life in London I still very much call Australia home and I miss everyone one of you. For those who don't know me but happen to have stumbled across this I hope it has informed you and inspired you to travel and visit other parts of the world.

There is much more to come from me soon as I know I have been a bit absent from blogging. Be prepared for an overload as I have about a months worth of shenanigans to fill you in on.

1920's Prohibition

Just another reason I love living in London - its a costume lovers heaven! It also is a host to amazing events like the one I went to a couple of weekends ago. A 1920's Prohibition night where everyone dressed up as flappers, drank cocktails out of tea cups and danced all night to a jazz and swing band. Held in a secret location the party had the most amazing atmosphere with everyone dolled up to the nines dancing around or playing at the casino or talking at candle lit tables. Kate was the one who discovered it so Claire, Caitriona, Shea and I joined her and we had the best time.

We were planning our costumes for months and Kate (a natural brunette with long brown hair) even bought a short blonde wig for the night. Slowly but surely we gathered our dresses, stockings, gloves, hair pieces, jewellery, fake eyelashes and red lipstick and on the day we were ready to go. We started getting ready about 4 in the afternoon because we needed Claire to curl all our hair (except Kate of course). Followed by ages attempting smokey eyed make up without looking like we had been punched in the face and my first and almost unsuccessful attempt to put on my own fake eyelashes. I got there in the end without sticking my eyelids together so I deemed that a positive success! As we didn't want to head there until the party kicked off that left plenty of time for a few bottles of wine (between us - don't worry mum I don't mean just me) and a yummy dinner to line our stomachs.

The night was amazing and definitely one of the most memorable London nights out I have had. The best part about it is that the same company put on a lot of other themed nights which I will most definately try to go to. The next one is a 1940's Blitz Party so I am now on the hunt for a new costume!

As there were many many great photos of the night and I couldn't pick just one I thought I would pop on a slideshow so you guys could check us out!

Empty Orchestra

Karaoke is Japanese for Empty Orchestra (well apparently - I did get that definition off a TV show but anyway) and a couple of Friday nights ago I went to my first ever Karaoke Nigh with the Pulborough Crew and a few other mates. Lance had been to Bloomsbury Bowling before with his work mates and he raved about it for ages so he planned a night and there were 15 of us that went for a night of bowling and karaoke.

After a few drinks with my work girls first I headed along already slightly tipsy and got into the ciders when I got there. I am not sure if that hindered my bowling skills at all but I was TERRIBLE. I think my score was about 50? I would average about 3 or 4 pins a go, followed by a few gutterballs and I somehow managed a strike. I wish they would let us have bumper bars! I was just happy that I didn't come last. After an hour of bowling (just enough time for one game) we went into a Karaoke room that was just for the group (thank god!) and the singing got underway.







Siobhan is a bit of a fan of Karaoke and already has her choice songs so we were treated to Valerie and Tiny Dancer. I chose Smile by Lily Allen and made a complete mess of it. I'm pretty sure people were covering their ears as I know for sure all the drinking didn't help my singing ability although it certainly helped with a confidence boost to take over the microphone! The boys even got involed with Matt singing No Woman No Cry and Lance having a go at Gansters Paradise.




In the end it was a free for all and everyone was having a go and all getting involved. The girls sang the Spice Girls - Stop and S Club 7's - Bring it All Back including all the dance moves (I think this was much to the boys dismay) and we were all just singing along to every song that came on before the night abruptly ended when our session finished mid song.

Unfortunately we had JUST missed the last tube home so we had to mission it back home on two night buses and we couldn't even by any roadies because all the bottle shops had closed. We came back to our house for a couple of night caps before I went to bed at ... errr god knows when.

Overall a fantastic night out and I think I have a new addiction to karaoke but not so much the bowling!

'Borough In The 'Burgh

A couple of weekends ago we had our first Whanau (Kiwi for family) holiday up to Edinburgh and I've got to say after a weekend of drinking, laughing and wild shenanigans I hope there is another one soon and many more to come.

I don't know how we decided on Edinburgh but I am glad I had a second chance to check out this a-maaaz-innnng city. Note to all you readers - come.visit.the.uk.and.go.to.Edinburgh. Ok? Deal. I can't really tell you why I love it so much but I just do. Its got something to do with how its so open with not many tall buildings and lots of peaks where you get amazing views and just the fresh air. But then again that may be because I am used to London's fresh air being the tail smoke of a double decker bus. Last time I was there we were really lucky with the weather and I must be a lucky charm myself because we had a couple of lovely spring days.

Let me back track a bit to our journey up to Eddy (yes I am getting too lazy to write the whole name). We all met at Kings Cross Station at about 5.30pm and jumped on a train. I was pretty excited about this because I didn't do much train travel in my adventures across europe and hadn't spent any longer then a couple of hours on a train so I know its a weird thing to be excited about but I was! It was a pity that it was dark because it would have been great to look out the window but its ok we amused ourselves easily. We had all stocked up on wine and snacks and got stuck into them straight away. We then started to play cards and that killed a few hours and before we knew it we were arriving in Edinburgh and after five hours of drinking and many bottles of wine we were pretty pissed when we got there.






After we managed to find our hostel after me and Siobhan went the wrong way after taking wrong directions off the hottest policeman I have ever seen (I was just caught up in his accent) we were pretty chuffed to find it was right off the Royal Mile (the main strip in Edinburgh). We checked in and dumped our stuff in the room before heading back out to the closest bar. It turned out to be a heavy metal/alternative bar but that didn't really matter because they sold 2 pound Jagerbombs and 7 pound fishbowls. Needless to say we had a sample of the cheap drinks menu while we listened to Papa Roach - "She Loves Me Not" which was then stuck in our head and our trip theme song for the rest of our time there.







After a couple of hours it was getting pretty late and we came to a vote that we would be better off going home now and sleeping it off, enjoying tomorrow and having another fun night out the next night so we headed off to the nearest boozy food store. At the corner of the street our hostel was on there was a chip shop where we found the most amazing midnight munchies EVER. Hot chips with gravy and cheese. Drooooooool. We bought a couple of serves and they got inhaled. We loved them so much we made some random backpackers take a group photo of us with the chips because it was such a hugh occasion.



The next morning we got up and surprisingly we were feeling pretty good but still in need of a good feed before our adventures so we asked at the hostel and they led us to Snax Cafe. Which was basically a greasy spoon/diner type cafe thing that gave us a 'Big Breakfast' (and let me tell you it was aptly names) and a coffee for 3 pounds. Oh yeah all that grease hit the spot and we were ready and raring to go. We wandered up the Royal Mile and had a peek at a few market stalls and shops along the way before heading to Mary Kings Close for a tour of the underground city.

The Real Mary Kings Close is a guided tour of the underground city that was left behind when they built over it. We got shown through the tiny little rooms where they lived and got told all the history of the close's and even got told a ghost story - which was actually scary!! The whole place was so old and amazing it was hard to imagine hundreds of people living in these closes back when there was no running water or heating or electricity. Yuck. Interesting but I am SO glad I don't have to live that way!



After the tour we headed further up the Royal Mile to have a quick look at the castle. We realised it was 14 pounds to get in and as none of us were very keen to part with that kind of money for a castle we decided to wander around the other parts of the city and then make our way to Arthurs Seat. We wandered through the GreenMarket and checked out lots of their shops before doing to the Elephant Cafe for a cup of tea and a bite to eat. The Elephant Cafe is where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and it is filled with pictures of her writing at the tables and other memorabilia. I went into the loo and the toilet seat was covered in pictures of Harry Potter characters and the toilet door was covered in the funniest writing ever. There were things like "Ministry of Magic This way" with an arrow to the flusher and quotes from the series including one about a bathroom ( I know I am a fan but I'm not that good at remembering exactly what it was) as well as lots of letters and quotes to JK Rowling thanking her for such a wonderful series of books.



Arthurs seat was one of the things I wanted to do last time but did not get the chance and my desire to climb it was fuelled by the book One Day. For those of you who haven't read it (YOU TOTALLY SHOULD) basically these two characters take a climb up to Arthurs Seat and it is one of the main parts of the book. Sort of. Anyways just another reason why I wanted to do it. Although the downside was that Arthurs Seat was quite far away from the Castle so after walking for 40 minutes to get there we then had to spend another 40 minutes doing the very steep climb up to the top. And I can tell you now it was well worth it. As the photos show the view was phenomenal.






The funniest part of the climb was that as there were two peaks to the hill/mountain/ridge whatever it is and we weren't sure what one to climb (you could do both) and Matt looked at the steps and then looked back at the hill and was like 'I can go straight up the hill without going up the steps' so he managed to climb straight up the side of an almost vertical hill which was quiet an effort. We had planned to meet him up there but on our way up to the path we asked some locals which one was which and he pointed to the opposite hill. So we had to call Matt and get him to come down the path and then climb up to the top of the other peak. Hahahaha

After a very tiring climb, a good long admire at the view (ok it was a rest) and a tentative climb down the peak we wandered back to the nearest pub closest to our hotel and treated ourselves to some food (we were ravenous by then) and a well deserved drinks. We then slowly wondered up to the hostel and had a few lazy ciders while we chatted to our hostel room mates and got ready for another night out. We found a thai restaurant not too far away and had a really yummy meal and a few drinks before heading out to a pub.

We headed over to Rose Street as we knew there was a strip of pubs along there and we hit up a few pubs along the strip. After we couldn't really find one with a good vibe - you know good music and good atmosphere we decided to head back along to the Royal Mile and see what we could find. I was actually convinced that I knew the way to a club I had been to when I was there before but after walking 10 minutes in the wrong direction (whoops!) I got vetoed as head of directions for the night and we stopped at a couple more pubs before making our way back to the hostel in the wee hours of the morning.

The next day we just spent wandering around the city and chilling out in the park and a sort of tired and hungover mood. We had gotten to the point where none of us had much money left to do any more of the sights and the weather hadn't let us sit outside without freezing to death so we basically just bummed around until the time for the train. It was still fun checking out the sights of another city but I was happy to get on the train for a bit of a rest and home for an early(ish) night. This was my third weekend away in a row and it had started to take his toll and I was wrecked.

It was such a great time away and like I said previously it is one of my favourite cities I have visited. We have semi-scheduled in another trip for sometime later in the year to somewhere like Liverpool or something. Exploring the UK is unfortunately often put to the bottom of the list because Europe is so tempting but after this weekend I am determined to see a bit more!