The Europe Entries

March 5, 2005 – Where on earth is the sun?

I arrived in London a week ago...

I arrived at Heathrow in minus 2 degree weather and a charming mix of snow and freezing rain thrown in for good measure. Just 14 hours earlier, I'd been in Bangkok where it was a lovely dry 36c with brilliant sunshine, enough to top up the last few weeks of tan...

South East Asia was incredible. You can check out a retrospective blog under SEAsia 2005… It was warm, it was charming, great food, and most of all, a lot of fun.  

On February 23rd I got on a plane and sadly left Asia to move to London. London is wicked. I love it. I am broke but that doesn't matter toooo much. The atmosphere is very cosmopolitan and cool, there are many old famous sites and the shopping will be intensely good once I'm earning some money. Have caught up with several old friends, one being Dan who is becoming a marine the day after tomorrow (the least likely person in the world I once thought...) and good mates from China who both agreed that it's really weird seeing each other in the English speaking world... oh, and not to mention that every 20 something New Zealander seems to live in this country, including me.

April 17, 2005 – Castles with dog collar museums, drizzle and the Heathrow Injection

I've been in London now for 7 weeks.  There have been a few ups and downs, but I'm mostly really liking it! Finding a job related to my degree so far has been a total mission but I'm slowly geting there and until then temping at the NHS isn't that bad (2007, IT SUCKED! I HATED IT!). Yes, I'm an office temp, ever so thrilling but it does pay the rent (and not much else) and the people there are really lovely. London has some of the strangest weather ever, it can't decide if it's going to be mild or freezing cold and grey with a bit of drizzle so therefore all my photos are really dull - grey is the word to describe this place. The nightlife however rocks and there's always loads of stuff to do.

A few weeks back I went to Leeds Castle with Grace, Susannah and Rebecca - it's actually in Kent and really cool - also helped along by the fact that we went wine tasting on the way there... It was quite interesting and even had a dog collar museum, the only one of its type in the world. James and I also spent a day in Greenwich recently - got to stand on the Prime Meridian and be a bit of a geek while he checked out the time museum (SO BORING!).

I've spent way too much time on Brick Lane eating curry which is starting to show on the waistline (have to go back on the Chinese diet!) and a couple of weeks ago we went to the most incredible restaurant I've ever seen - it was like I'd stepped into my imagination when I was 7 years old - swans wearing tiaras, handbags hanging from the ceiling and monkeys with crowns on holding champagne glasses - exquisite.

In a few weeks we're off to Paris for the weekend (ooh la la!) and in August Grace and I are going to Budapest, Prague and Berlin for 10 days - we've booked our flights and everything, can't wait for it.

May 9, 2005

Last weekend we went to Stonehenge and Salisbury for the day. Was quite interesting and Stonehenge was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. However, we also got to see one of 4 surviving copies of the Magna-Carta which was quite cool and hang out in Salisbury for the afternoon which is quite a lovely town. Yesterday Grace and I went to Notting Hill for the afternoon and then stumbled upon Speakers Corner in the middle of Hyde Park. Apparently all McDonalds toys are made in China - Grace's response was "DUH". Oh, and this one guy is god... (2007, don’t all guys think they’re god?)

I've joined the gym at last and am working on counteracting the Heathrow Injection (massive weight gain upon entering the UK). It's good and very East End (THE ACCENTS!!!) and everyone there calls you 'love.'

Jobwise: Still Looking. Still temping. Off to Paris in a few weeks so that'll be exciting.

London’s Greatest Temp…  

June 2005

I've been living in London now for four months. London is ok but I’ve freely admitted on several occasions that it’s not my favourite place that I’ve visited. But for now it’ll do. It’s expensive and when job opportunities aren’t so hot it can get frustrating.

For my first three months here I worked at Newby Place Health Centre as a secretary/receptionist in the community health clinic (i.e. I gave out condoms from 9-12 and milk powder to 15 year old mothers from 1-5). IT WAS SO BORING. I didn’t enjoy it much at all but the people there were nice to work with and it was close to where I live. They gave me notice of the end of my contract one day before I finished… charming.

So, there I was, unemployed and freaking out about not being able to make my rent the following week when I get a call completely out of the blue from another agency saying they’d found a role for me and to come in the following week. Within a couple of days I’d started working at the Department of Constitutional Affairs as a policy advisor – not bad huh! Originally I was supposed to be there for 6 weeks but they’ve extended my contract now til the end of November. (2007, this would turn out to be the best opportunity I ever had in the job world, phew!).

Finding a permanent job in this country has been a total nightmare. First of all, my first recruitment agency told me I don’t need to sign up with any other agencies as they’d be able to get me something no problem. After seeing through this I signed up to three others. The first totally and utterly blew the wind up my ass telling me I’d be able to get loads of cash and the perfect job through them. After taking a total of seven hours over various days to see them about stuff I’d had enough of being blatantly lied to and started looking at other agencies. Most agencies turned me away claiming that I didn’t have enough office experience or that my cv just didn’t contain what ‘their companies were looking for’ and rah rah rah. Eventually two agencies that dealt with government and non-profits were keen to take me on and that’s where I am now.

I’m still struggling to pay my bills. No one in this city will deny that it’s expensive!

Paris June 3-5 2005 - A Search for le Syrup de Menthe...

On June 3rd, James and I jumped on the Eurostar at Waterloo Station and three hours later arrived at Paris le Gare du Nord (north Train Station). The weekend started off a little odd because James had the cold from hell and we had to change hotels and move all the way to the other side of Paris (don't ask...) but the weekend turned out to be really good.

When we got to our second hotel James decided to have a nap while I hit the local bakery (bouloungerie?) where I got baguettes, éclairs and mille-fuille - I was determined not to miss out because he was being a grump. When I got back James magically felt good and was very happy to gobble down my mille fuille (fancy custard squares) and we hit the Paris streets. OH HOW WE WALKED.

We got off at the wrong bus stop and ended up walking from Saint Germain down the Seine to Notre Dame, through the Louvre (but not in it due to an attempt to escape the tourists, or denial that we actually were them) and up the Champs Elesees (I can't spell in French). After checking out the Arc de Triumph we went on the search for syrup de menthe which our flatmate asked us to get for him. Do you think we could find it??? No. We then continued on through the streets of central Paris til we got to la Trocadero where J saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time in his life (note: I have been to Paris before so I was showing him around). After checking it out and deciding not to go up (the weather was crap) we decided to walk back to our hotel which looked really close on the map. One and a half hours and some very sore legs later we eventually got back...

On the Saturday we got up reasonably early, took advantage of the hotel breakfast and went to Les Halles and the Centre Pompidou. We mucked around there for a while before heading to la Defense where there's some really cool modern buildings and sculptures. After that we decided to head back to the Eiffel Tower where we waited for a while in a queue before missing the sign for the elevator and walking up. Luckily I'd been going to the gym otherwise I would have died - how many stairs does that thing have!!! It was well worth the climb and after a while of checking out the view and refusing to pay 4 euro for a tiny bottle of water we headed back down the stairs into the crowds below.

On Sunday we went back on the search for Kristaan's syrup de menthe... We started out by the Arc de Triumph where they'd closed the roundabout to show off Paris for the Olympic decision (I really hope Paris gets them) and had heaps of scary policemen with the biggest batons I'd ever seen. French policemen don't look that scary actually - if I pulled out a baguette I could hit one on the head and they'd be down... Maybe they're not as wimpy as they look.

We still couldn't find the damned stuff so we headed to Mon Martre and checked out the Sacre Couer (the big white Byzantine looking church) and the artist markets before walking down the hill through quiet little streets. Somewhere amongst them we found le syrup de menthe and of all things - the Moulin Rouge which J was rather excited about and me too because I couldn't find it last time. At 4pm we were bored of Mon Marte and headed back to Les Halles before having a little walk back to the Louvre for one last try to see the Mona Lisa - still didn't see it as was closing time but on the way out there was this opera singer in the arches outside. Sounded so lovely. It was the perfect ending to a really cool weekend (if you forget about J’s very annoying cold, men seem to think they’re dying when they’re sick~).

We then hopped back on the Eurostar and three hours later were back at Waterloo Station... I can't wait to go back to Paris a third time - hopefully soon.

July 5th 2005 – The beginning of some crazy times

I’m single – yep, back in the world of Bridget Jones and fun girly nights. YIPEE! James and I tried to make it work for 2.5 years but it doesn't work when one of you stops putting in the effort. In the end we were just too different and couldn't keep it together anymore. Life goes on. We move on.  

Also went to Live 8 a couple of days before. It rocked.

July 7th 2005

So here I am again...  two months short of four years since September 11, 2001 I am in yet another city that's been the victim of terrorism. The last time I was in Washington DC with widespread panic stuck with a massive commute home to Capitol Hill from Georgetown. Londoners are much calmer.

This time the commute was in the world's bitchiest new shoes, a two hour walk from Westminster to the East side walking amongst the crowds, in silence with people listening to their i-pods or other technology. There I was having no idea what would happen next or when I would get back to Grace's house where I'm staying at the moment. This morning I had planned to go to work late but changed my mind and went in at 8:30 instead. I got on the tube at Old Street and changed to the Victoria Line at Kings Cross at 8:40. By 9am I'd reached work, sat down with my cup of tea when I get an email saying that there's been a blast at Liverpool Street and that it's just a power failure, no need to worry. 10 minutes later I got another email saying that another explosion had happened. Then I get an email from my friend Lisa saying a bus had exploded at Tavistock Square and that perhaps we shouldn't meet up tonight until we know what's going on. The next thing the office starts to panic (very much unlike the Brits) and two more explosions have happened on the Tube - one at Kings Cross. The work intern hadn't turned up to work - he was caught in the chaos. At 11am he finally turned up having walked from somewhere on the East - the same walk I would take home later that day. We spent the day on the internet keeping up with the news. No one knew for sure what was going on. Some thought that it was still a massive power failure but when it was confirmed that the bus exploded we knew that London had been hit.

July 31st 2005

Well, July's been not the coolest month of my life but hey, it goes on. Tomorrow's a new month and in two weeks Grace and I are off on our whirlwind tour of 3 Eastern European cities - Budapest, Prague and Berlin.

Have moved into a new flat. I'm now sharing a room with two other girls - both Aussies - very loud but very cool. There are six of us altogether but it works really well - everyone's fun and the best thing is we're all here for one reason - to travel and have a good time. Last night we had our flat warming which had some interesting results. I've turned into a real London Antipodean and have ended up at the Shepherds Bush Walkabout TWICE now! Not cool.

My job is going well. Its great experience and the people I work with are really cool (just in case my boss ever reads this I think I don't have any option but to say that) and I'm really enjoying working there.

Not much else to tell. I'm just busy planning my next trips. When Grace and I get back from our 10 days away I'll be off to Holland with the folks a couple of weeks later and will plan my next moves after that… it’s all very exciting!  

August 13, 2005

Greetings from Budapest!

Excuse the tzpos in this email. The kezboards here are totallz screwed... seriously, who puts a z where a y should be and who knows how on earth to put the ‘at’ sign in... anzwaz, Grace and I have finally made it to Budapest after five months of talking about it.

Budapest is crayz - see what i mean about those zs and ys... ok, again, Budapest is crazy! It's such a bizarre city... First of all, you feel like you've time-travelled back 20 zears or so. Currently we're in 1985. Everything is done by hand including the train tickets which have no time specified (hence why I am writing in an internet cafe due to missing the train to Prague and having to wait 3 hours for the next one) and all that jazz, the ticket sellers actually have to look up in a book to find out the time. Even China was more ahead... Then, the fashion... very soviet I must say. It's all brown and beige and very loose. The Hungarians are some of the most interesting people I've ever seen. They all have very heavy set jaws, wavy mousy brown hair and seem to carry a spare tyre around the middle which I'm assuming comes from the food they eat. The food, not my kind of thing really. It's very heavy. A lot of pasta, a lot of gravy and meat meat meat. Everything has meat in it. They do a great hot dog however...

The architecture is cool. It's very gothic with a bit of communist bland housing thrown in. The old town (buda) looks very medieval while the new town (pest) is very renaissance or baroque, again with a bit of communist architecture thrown in. On our first daz we hung out in Buda, checking out the castle and walking all the way down the hill through medieval architecture mostly unscathed from World Wars One and Two. We were extremely tired having been up since 3am (if only easy jet had cheap flights that went out at decent hours) so it was a very lazy walk on the mission to find coffee or something to keep us awake. We ended up having dinner on this lovelz street that thez claim was supposed to imitate the Champs Elyzsees of Paris... Not quite but it was lovely. Grace had some mammoth scary thing with gravy all over it plus a Budapest dumpling which was basicallz overcooked pasta and not much else. I had the chicken stuffed with aubergine which was great.

Yesterday we went on the mission to find Statue Park which we had to take several different forms of transport to. We ended up going the wrong direction on the wrong tram and ended up in some dodgy Budapest neighbourhood full of communist era housing - high rise apartments grey and clearly built in the 1960s. 2.5 hours later we were there. It's this crazy place on the edge of town filled with the old soviet statues that are not allowed in the town centre anymore. It was basically a propaganda cemetery. Verz very interesting... I've never seen such a big version of Lenin in my life. He was HUGE.

After a brief wonder around Statue Park it took us 45 minutes to get back to Buda where we spent a glorious afternoon in the famous Gellert Baths. A leftover from the Turkish influence. AMAZING and very beautiful. The roofs are full of mosaics and the main swimming pool is actually inside but with an open roof. To our great delight and surprise we found a wave pool outside which meant an hour of hilarious fun and a morning today covered in bruises due to the fact that we kept slipping over something terrible. We ended our visit to the baths by soaking in the ladies bath which was heated to 38 degrees and was pure heaven. Only thing was that we didn't have towels and were instead given sheets with which to dry ourselves... very interesting but surprisingly efficient.

So we made our way back to Pest and found Heroes square which is a tiny version of Tiananmen Square. To another delight we found an outdoor recreation park where kids were jumping on trampolines and adults were playing table tennis. We stumbled on the other baths in which we were thrown out of 'NO PICTURES!' ok... So we walked further around the park only to find a random castle which again we were pleasantly surprised by.

We had dinner in the same area we were the night before and this time we settled for seafood pasta and feta stuffed turkey breast... Much better than overcooked pasta soaked in heavy gravy... We then went back to our hostel which was great except for the street noise which kept us both up ALL night and now we are here awaiting our train which isn't for another two hours.

If we get to our next train then tonight we will be in PRAGUE!!!.

August 18, 2005

Prague

So,

After a long train trip from Budapest filled with some verz interesting characters (the zs and ys are still confused on this kezboard) we made it to Prague. Oh, it was so gorgeous. Prague was stunning, we walked and walked and walked and walked, until we got to a point where if we bumped into any more tourists we might have had a fit. Prague was gorgeous but sadly totally taken over by tourists and the crappy shops and rip offs that come with too many money spenders in a place that should be a perfect city.

To make this short, we walked through the gorgeous winding streets, across the Charles Bridge which is famous for its statues, up to the Castle where the view was magnificent and back down through the old and new towns. Highlights were the St James Church where a dead hand hangs having been taken from a thief who tried to steal the Empresses crown jewels. The decorations in that church were intense and really beautiful; the Charles bridge if it wasn’t so overcrowded with tourists, the castle and this great night club where we danced away to sixties and seventies music. Oh, and not to mention the really cheap food and beer.

The castle was amazing and made Prague look like the setting for many fairy tales. We were really blown away by it, especially at night.

Food in this part of the world is way too heavy for my liking and I´m actually desperately craving a salad.

So far we’re having such a blast. Shame to think that this time next week we’ll both be back at work.

So Prague was lovely. I’m thinking of going back in Winter to see it without so many tourists on package holidays because without them it would have been so much better.

August 21st 2005

We left Prague and made it to Berlin on the Thursday afternoon.

Grace and I were both rather excited about Berlin after the chaotic tourism that is Prague.

We had a great day on Friday checking out all the sites ranging from the TV tower to Checkpoint Charlie (a former checkpoint to go through the Berlin wall) which had a fascinating museum. We saw the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, opera houses, a fabulous museum as well as the actual Berlin wall that the government has given to the hands of Graffiti artists. We also checked out Europe's largest flea market as well as fantastic sausages... mmm.

Berlin is too big with too much history to see all in one weekend so we did what we could without getting too exhausted and had a downright great time. Berlin has so much to offer. On Saturday night we joined one of the cities' famous pub crawls which meant a fantastic night and a crappy Sunday morning of barely being able to function. We set off to Potsdam on Sunday which is the German version of Versailles and where they divided Germany into East and West in 1949 - it would have been much more interesting if our tour hadn't all been in German and we could understand...

Sadly we had to end the trip Sunday night. We arrived back at Luton Airport at some stupid hour of the night and a few hours later were back at work.

Next destination - Holland in 2 weeks. Hooray!

The Netherlands and Belgium - 11 September 2005

Another year goes by and so September 11 passes yet again. It's been 4 years now since DC - the start of my big excursions around the world. It's quite weird thinking of all the places I've been since then. Close to 20 countries and I've lost count of cities... Anyway, I've been on some more travels!

Mum and Dad arrived in London on the 7th of September and we flew out of Gatwick to Amsterdam the following morning. Not having seen them in close to two years hadn't really changed much so we got on with doing what we do best - renting a car and seeing the countryside. We didn't actually go to Amsterdam itself - we were on a mission to visit some of Dad's business contacts in the ship building world so off we went to Gorichem and Vlissingen - both smallish fishing villages on the coast of Holland.

Gorichem was beautiful. Cobble stoned streets with canals running through it and with lots of Dutch riding their bicycles along with them. We met up with Pim, a rather large Dutchman with excellent taste in restaurants, food and wine. We had a great lunch with him and left rather a little wobbly footed after slamming my fingers in a door and left for Vlissingen.

Vlissingen is a gorgeous little seaside town - known for its excellent seafood and atrocious weather. Being right on the coast it's rather windy and most of the year is sprayed with a fine mist from the sea - not the most pleasant but the town was cute and the people were nice enough. After having an afternoon nap to sleep off the amazing lunch that Pim provided us it was time to meet up with Kathy, my Chinese friend who I managed to set up an internship with Schelde ship builders. Kathy was in great form having a wonderful time in Holland if not a bit weary of the heavy Dutch food and the fact that most people around her speak Dutch yet she can really only communicate with them in English. We had dinner with her and her boss Hein where I tried some of Vlissingen's famous seafood - Belgian mussels - and they were to die for.

On Friday morning Mum and I woke up early to check out the Vlissingen markets - sold the usual stuff like fresh fruit and veggies, seafood, nuts and lots of cheese. Yummy. It took us all of an hour to walk around the town so we went back to the hotel for another nap after a walk along the board walk. Dad took forever in a meeting with Hein and eventually met us around 2pm when we went for a drive around the coast of Holland - very rough and wild seas next to flat farmland dotted with windmills - quite impressive to look at really.

The following morning we got on the road and drove to Belgium. After driving through rolling farmland we eventually made it to our destination - the battlefields close to Paschendale - now generally filled with brussel sprouts or corn but also many war graves from World War One - also the resting place of my Great Grandfather. It was quite emotional being the first in our line to go and pay our respects but it worked out well and he's in a good place.

That night we stayed in a stunning little village called Popperinge. Popperinge is built as it would have been for centuries except that 2 World Wars went through it so most of the buildings are fairly recent. Everything revolves around the 'Centrum' or town square which has a huge cathedral in, surrounded by cute little restaurants, cafes and the general things you'll find in a small European town. We found a nice little restaurant in the Centrum for dinner where Dad and I probably consumed a bit too much Hoegarden - the local beer and a good one at that and dined on Sole - some of the best tasting fish ever.

Sunday morning we woke up early, went back to the grave site to pay our final respects and started our drive to Eindhoven Airport back in the Netherlands. We made it with plenty of time to spare after getting lots in heaps of small towns, had lunch and then hopped on a plane back to London. The next day it was back to work for three days.

 Brussel Sprouts?

Ireland - 19 September 2005

Have just got back from 5 days in lovely Ireland with Mum and Dad.

Ireland was stunning. With its rugged coastline and green pastures it actually reminded me a lot of home: clean, green, fresh and with the friendliest people imaginable. What sets it apart from New Zealand however is its history - ancient and intense. Some places showed the scars of living against the elements and countless invasions whether it be from the Romans, Vikings or the English. Short of living memory were remnants of feudal eras and the potato famine which impacted my family quite dramatically - hence me being born a 5th Generation New Zealander, a direct result from the famine in the 19th Century. Today Ireland shines. Its economy is booming and development is strong but not in an over-riding obvious way and the people share a land of 1000 smiles with anyone willing to do the same in return.

We arrived at Shannon Airport on Ryan Air on Thursday. We quickly discovered it was rather chilly and that I should have brought winter clothes with me. Oops. I ended up wearing the same outfit for 5 days in a row for that very reason. We rented a car and drove to the Lough Derg area which is where Mum's ancestors are from. Mum was determined to piece together the last few bits of her family tree so after driving through beautiful Killaloe we spent time in Scarriff and Mount Shannon. That afternoon we visited some people who we thought might be distant relatives - they turned out not to be but after having high tea and slightly stale tea cakes with them they sent us in the direction of relatives who would actually be related.

After having tea with the second lot the following morning we set off to the South West coast to the Ring of Dingle - an area of intense rugged coast dotted with small fishing villages. We spent most of the day driving through tiny seaside villages with their catholic churches and pubs with huge guinness signs outside, got lost somewhere and ended up staying in this great bed and breakfasts where I had one of the most amazing meals of my life - for breakfast! Yep, freshly caught salmon with potatoes, tomatoes and a good pot of peppermint tea. Again we got on the road and continued around the Ring of Dingle. The scenery was so spectacular with giant cliffs extending out into the wild atlantic. People had lived there since 400a.d at least and there was still evidence of their existence along the coast with reconstructed ancient homes including stone "beehves", tiny man made caves on the edges of cliffs.

That afternoon we drove around the Ring of Kerry which was lovely but not as specacular as the Ring of Dingle. We stayed in Glengariff, drove up to this lake at the top of a peat laden hill, had a pub dinner and got a good night's sleep.

Yesterday we took it easy and drove to Cork which is a lovely city. Again, very historical and with a beauty that has survived a history of conflict, famine and a strong sense of catholicism. We drove around Cobh, a small village just out of Cork which was cool with its multi-coloured houses and massive cathedral set on the water. On the way there we stopped in Blarney where I kissed the famous Blarney Stone which is supposed to bring me luck - I'm hoping financial luck!

Around 5pm we met up with my friend Erika who showed us the classic Irish hospitality with a grin and took her to dinner at this great Italian restaurant called Luigi Malones. We had a great hearty meal and then Erika walked us through some of Cork's ancient streets which date back to the Vikings. We had coffee with some of her friends - again - smiles smiles smiles - and then it was time to say goodbye before tucking in for our last night of sleep in Ireland.

Today we woke up and had one last intense Irish breakfast - sausages, bacon, tomatoes, black pudding, white pudding, eggs and bread... and then drove to Shannon stopping at a small town called Ennis to grab a quick coffee and scone before jumping on Ryan Air back to London.

Tomorrow it's back to work where they've made me permanent member of staff. I'm now officially a Policy Officer for the Department of Constitutional Affairs.

For the next three months I'm not going ANYWHERE. I'm so broke from all this travelling that now it's all about getting debts paid off and attempting to save a bit. The next big adventure will be to Edinburgh for New Years with all my good friends. Until then I'm going to make more of an effort to discover London and the strange world that can only exist there,

February 12 2006 - Dodgy Part time Jobs, Scotland, Paris and turning 25

Happy New Year everyone. Sorry an update of this has been so long in coming. Have I been busy or what!

Just a quick summary really:

Didn't end up going to the Christmas markets due to lack of funds so I took on a part time bar job... at the WALKABOUT - the dodgiest pub on the entire planet but convenient for me since it was close to my house. I somehow managed to last there for three months until I gave up smelling of stale beer after every shift and went back to my life of being the poorest blonde on the planet (but only for a f