Oh the places I'll go....

2006-08-14T18:40:00.000-04:00

I am now back on Canadian soil. It's strange because everything in Guelph is so much the same that I can see how it will be easy to feel like the last year was some wonderful imaginary story that I made up. It is sort of nice to be in such familiar territory though, and of course amazing to see those I've missed the past year.

I shall return to my regular scheduled programming on my other blog. You can read about my relatively boring day-to-day life. That is until I head off somewhere else. Stay tuned!

2006-08-10T08:55:00.000-04:00

Well it seems at if there is quite a terrorist scare in airports in the UK at the moment. Apparently there was a ploy to blow up some transatlantic flights and kill tons of people with materials smuggled in hand luggage. Security at all airports in the UK has been tightened a lot and they say that delays are reported. The threat level has been listed as critical, which the BBC this morning said was the highest possible. Scary for a couple reasons. Firstly, well it's just general the-world-is-messed scary. But secondly - I want to be able to come home tomorrow! And not have a fear of being blown up! I'm sure it will be fine but the BBC did say it may last 2 days. No hand luggage at all is allowed. Oi. We shall see how the day goes.

In happier news, my boss said I can leave early today! Since he got a little concerned when I told him I havn't started packing. Supposed to do that last night but ended up drinking instead with some friends from the beginning of my time in Scotland. Was nice to see them. Worth the hangover today. When will I ever learn?

I will be in Guelph this time on Sat. Oh my good god. I think I said this same thing when coming here. Strange.

2006-08-02T09:39:00.000-04:00

Well looks as if I am going to be bringing a Scottish cold home with me. Just my luck. Ha ha. I think I got to excited about my last few weeks and coming home. Plus there is a girl coughing up a storm in the desk across from me. Bah! Red-nosed and puffy eyes Emily coming your way.

Got an exciting few days coming up. This weekend we're taking a road trip (in a car! - I know it's dorky but I never get to ride in one anymore) to Hadrian's Wall and Newcastle and such. Just a day out but I wanted to get down there before I left. Going to a comedy show at the festival, hitting up the Botanical gardens, getting my hair cut, potentially a tiny bit of shopping; all sorts of excitement.

It was one of my flatmates birthday last night so we went out to Monster Mash, which has the best bangers and mash around. We all ate so much we wanted to be ill.

Apparently I have to train a girl to take over my job (since they like me so much - ha ha). Two whole days. What the hell am I going to tell her? I spend most of my time wasting time (as shown by this post). I mean there are a lot of things to know, but that would take a morning. Not 2 days. Perhaps I'll make her do my boring filing.

Oh I just got my teaching placement for teachers college. I'm in Guelph! And sort of downtown (Laurine Ave) so I can ride my bike! The class is grades 1/2 which is pretty young and not exactly what I wanted but I'm still excited.

2006-07-31T09:12:00.000-04:00

What a nice weekend. Fitting for my second last one here. The jazz festival started on Friday so there were all sorts of events happening around the city. Saturday afternoon we watched a Mardi Gras parade from the window, and Sunday afternoon we went to the bandstand at Princes St gardens and enjoyed an afternoon of free jazz concerts in the sun. Jen and I have burned noses to prove it. It's a good time to be in the city, however not the best time to live in a flat above a busy bar and street. I was woken up in the middle of the night by a drunk girl crying hysterically.

Speaking of our flat, we have our very own, ugly naked guy. No jokes! He is at the top of the building across the street from us. He stands in his window and washes himself at the sink (naked of course). Luckily for us, there are a bunch of bottles lining the window ledge that are placed quite nicely. Sarah even saw him doing ugly-naked medicine ball exercises yesterday. We are sorry for her loss.

Going to hit up a few comedy shows this week as the fringe festival has all it's previews. So far I've had good experience with British comedy.

And I JUST told my boss I was leaving in 11 days. He was very nice about it (I also baked him cookies) and I feel loads better. I was having nervous stomach on the weekend. Now I think I'm just excited. This city has treated me well, I love it and will miss it, but I am excited beyond belief to be going home.

2006-07-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

I have an invisible hangover hat on my head this morning. Unfortunately I thought that going out for drinks instead of eating supper last night was a good idea. Oops. Sarah forced her patented concoction of pills (I'm not allowed to tell you the recipe)down on me because otherwise today would have been much worse. Too bad I don't have Mac here to switch hats with me (yes I realize no one will get that but that is why you should ALL go out and download Series 1 of Green Wing - not series 2 because you might accidentally tell me what happens).

Nothing travel related to report at the moment, since I am just on the brink of coming home. Going to Newcastle next weekend to get a last little trip in before Canada. 14 days. It's surreal thinking of going home.

I was thinking the other day about all I've seen and done over the last year. I'll admit that I'm actually a little bit proud of myself for what I've accomplished. I know it's not as if I did anything that important, but that doesn't change the fact that I was able to live out a trip that I had been dreaming about for years. While I change my mind constantly about other aspects of my life, I knew I had to travel. And I did it. And will probably do more. No chance for regrets for me. I think that's pretty damn cool.

Enough ranting about how much I rock. Ha ha. That was sarcasm don't worry. The woman bedside me at work is talking about how her 4 year old has been stealing tester lipsticks from department stores. Ha ha. It's apparently happened more than once.

Hangover hat getting too heavy. Must go comatose for a while.

2006-07-21T11:41:00.000-04:00

So I excitedly went to Boots yesterday to pick up 4 rolls of film that I had sent in to get developed. And turns out that they ruined 2 of them. RUINED!! He was like, I'm sorry about that, then handed me a couple free rolls of film, gift card, and didn't charge me for the 2 they didn't manage to destroy. I was so fucking (sorry but that's appropriate here) upset that I couldn't even complain at the desk because I was that close to bursting out into tears. It may sound stupid but 2 rolls of film is potentially 3 cities. I believe they were Santorini, Paros, and Berlin. How freaking upsetting is that? What do those stupid people at Boots believe, that I have a spare copy of these memories at home? That I can just go back and meet up with the same people, and see the same places? Man I was/am upset. After this rant I am going to find some phone number or email address where I can complain.

2006-07-18T11:38:00.000-04:00

Not sure what's up with this computer but the photos may or may not work. Here are a couple from Greece with Hilary and I, one of Sarah and I on Calton hill, and one with a few folks I met in Salzburg.

2006-07-18T11:33:00.000-04:00

2006-07-17T10:32:00.000-04:00

I realized I had left out quite a few cities along the way so I thought I'd write some blurbs about those. By the way, I am currently back in Scotland, so if anyone wants to call I have a mobile again! 07896274501 (UK number).

Last place was... Avignon, France.
- well it was a really pretty city. The entire old town area was still surrounded by a town wall so that gave it a neat feel. However, I was staying in a ghetto hostel out of the city, and got bit to death by mosquitos, and I was at the peak of my sickness, and it was 500 degrees out. Ha ha. Despite that it was really nice. Spent most of my time wandering around or sleeping in the park at the top of the hill. I got to see the famous bridge (remember the song?) but you actually had to pay to go out on it. What's that all about? It's broken too!

Then came Paris, France.
- Finally eh? I think it was a little overhyped in my head (geez I've turned into a snobby jaded traveller) but I still really enjoyed it. Pretty much did all the touristy things; Arc de Triomphe, Champs d'Elysees (yes I know my spelling is horrible), Cathedral de Notre Dame, Moulin Rougue, Montmartre, Eiffel tower, Musee d'Orsay, Louvre. The museums especially were wonderful,and of course the Eiffel tower at night (when I climbed up the stairs). I think the only reasons I didn't love it was the fact that it was just so big. Oh the Mona Lisa is much smalle rthan you think it is going to be. I ran into 3 different groups of people I knew which was a good sign I had been travelling too long :).

As I am out of time I shall update more later...

2006-07-14T10:19:00.000-04:00

I cannot tell you how giddy and excited I am to be back here. I almost peed my pants in frustration when I was on the train in Glasgow on the way to Edinburgh and it broke down. So close! Ha ha. But of course I made it. And I am now a happy camper. I have a few days off before I (hopefully) go back to some sort of mindless job.

I shall go through my journal and update all the cities that I missed. Left it at home today though (sorry). I'm glad my travelling is mostly over though, 2.5 months will wear you out. In an amazing way though.

2006-07-09T15:46:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness I am Amsterdam-ed out! I am currently watching the football (soccer - whatever the hell you want to call it) and I am ready to pass out. This city has been wonderful and beautiful and the weather has been great but I have been tired right out. Plus the I've been experiencing a little of good ole Amsterdam culture and my poor old body can't handle it. Ha ha. It's been great. However, I am counting down the days now until I'm hanging out with the lovely ladies of George 4 Flat. Can't wait! Drop in and say hi!

2006-07-04T10:14:00.000-04:00

I need a moment of to complain. I am sick and although it's only been a few days, it is a lot of time in the backpacking world. I just want to sleep all day but since I'm in Paris I cannot. Boo!

Anyways on to happier things.

I have had the luck of meeting two really great groups of people at my last hostels. It's funny how the people you meet can form your opinion of the place regardless if it is actually nice or not. After Gimmelwald (where I stayed an extra day since it was so beautiful) I headed down to Nice. Nice isn't that nice (ha.. ha..) but I had a great time there anyways. Spent some time on the beach and did a couple small road trips and drank too much (which probably explains the cold). I then went to Avignon (which was nice) but I was too sick to enjoy it. Plus it's freaking hot. I'm looking forward to hitting up Edinburgh at the end of next week. Hard to believe it is time to go back to work already. Well hopefully back to work.

Anyways I'm ranting because I'm on decongestants and the only ones I had were drowsy so now I'm sightseeing while being half asleep. Tonight, however, is the Eiffel Tower!

2006-06-25T14:11:00.000-04:00

I am currently in a town of 130 people staying in the mountains in Switzerland. The town is called Gimmelwald and its really breathtaking. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen ever. Mountains in the backdrops on all sides, hills with pretty Swis houses, animals in the fields, did I mention the snow capped mountains EVERYWHERE (including waterfalls). Wow. Its amazing.

2006-06-20T18:46:00.000-04:00

In Salzburg at the moment.

I think of all these interesting thoughts for my blog through the course of the day and then when I sit down to write them they have completely gone. Must be this heat. I am such a baby.

Yesterday I went to the largest ice caves in the world. They were absolutely amazing. I suggest you all go out and google them. Really. But first read my blog. We hiked in 1 km of the ice, but there was another 42 more. It was so much bigger than I had imagined it to be, and inside they dont have anything artificially lit up. Every fifth person carries an old fashioned lamp, and then when the guide is speaking he lites magnesium strips. It was just magnificant. And nice and cold. One American joker in a group I had been travelling with decided he would wear only his shorts and t-shirt (and its 0 degrees).

I've met a lot of people here in the hostel I am staying in. It has been nice after a few antisocial hostels. Went out drinking both nights (oohh ahh). My first night with a bunch of Irish girls, which was grand because they know how to drink. Its been nice to be more social.

Oh I havnt mentioned my time in Isny. I was supposed to visit some old family friends that I had never met in this tiny town in Germany. It was my birthday and I didnt feel like going really, and then I was subjected to a day of horrible train delays and cancellations. So I was pretty pissed by the time I got there. However, since they run and own their own hotel, I got to stay in my very own room, with my very own bathroom! Plus the father is a famous chef in that area so I ate some really amaying food. Totally worth it. Funny how things turn out that way. Plus the town itself was amazing.

Sorry for the disjointed update. Just so you all know, I shall now be gracing Guelph with my presence on August 12th. Mark your calendars everyone!!!

2006-06-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

On this special day of mine I have decided to give you all a brief update. First some random thoughts. #1 - Why why oh why did I wish for warmer weather. Geez Emily. The other day in Heidelberg it was 38 degrees out. #2 - Jess you should go out and read `dont sleep with your drummer´. It is hilarious (plus thank you for the very nice birthday note on your blog). #3 - Took my camera in to get fixed and he said he had to send it away and then it would be 4 weeks. Right... So either my pictures are going to be blurry or have black dots over them or not turn out or be perfectly fine. We shall see.

Where did I leave off...

Prague, Czech - Basically the city was lovely and the weather was crap and I was in a moody mood. Ha ha. Pretty much sums it up. I will have to visit it again sometime. It was lovely.

Berlin, Germany - Went and stayed with my sisters old exchange student. She worked most of the time but that gave me lots of time to see the city. Which I loved! Took a walking tour of the city which was very worthwhile. The guide was so enthusiastic and told some really great stories. Some of the highlights include Brandenburg Tor (which has a giant soccer ball in front of it at the moment), Reichstag (the parliament), and of course the wall. Which was really smaller than I thought it would be. But I guess the scarey part about the wall was not the actual wall itself but the death strip around it. Saw the Jewish holocaust monument which is basically a huge block filled with concrete rectangles of different sizes. Pretty churches too of course. Eva took me out of a fancy dinner one night and then out to this really cool club another night that had a view of the whole city. Hard to hang out in a club with a bunch of German people though who dont speak a lot of english. It was fun nontheless. Oh I saw the 'zoo station'. Woot!

Ack this computer has a very annoying delay and I keep messing up. Ack!

Copenhange, Denmark - Well I chose the wrong time to come her. Sunday I arrived and most things were closed due to it being a Sunday. Turns out the next day was a holiday. Ha ha. What I did love about the city though was the fact that everyone rides bikes and I mean everyone. Its great. They have bike lanes in places that are wider than the car lanes. Plus they all have really cute baskets on their bikes. Im going to get one. The city was a very nice one to walk around. Took the walking guide that was suggested in my guide book and it turned out to be pretty good. Also stumbled upon a random photography exhibit in the streets outside the national theatre. Hans Christian Andersons house was very small and only had a tiny plaque on it. The Little mermaid statue is very little, but I had been warned not to expect much so it was ok. Oh and also about bikes, they have free city bikes that you can just pick up and ride around the city. How wonderful is that! Heard a really great lightning storm and got scolded by a random Ukranian woman about the eating of my white pasta and the fact I had a sunburn. Spent my last day here going over to Sweden. Guess what - it was a holiday over there the day I chose to go! Ferry ride was pretty and on the way I got to see Hamlet's castle.

Shite this keyboard is pissing me off. Its taking me like 15 times longer to write than I normally would take.

Aachen, Germany - Stayed with a random connection whom I had never met before but she turned out to be very nice. Aachen is a cute German city where my sister lived for a few months. It has the most beautiful cathedral in it (and at this point i was getting sick of them). Also there are random painted statues of horses throughout the city and some very smelly water that comes out of a spring that is supposed to be good for you. Wanda took me around the town and the next day drove me (and her sisters and boyfriend - what a cramped car) out to the place where the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany all meet. So I stood in all three countries at once and then ate some soft ice cream. We went out for beer both nights I was here so that was fun. I also went to the chocolate museum during the day trip to Cologne and got to see how it was made. Mmmm. Cologne was a very nice city too - but right now everywhere in Germany is nuts due to soccer. Tried to see Frankfurt for a day but it sucked. In my opinion.

Ok I really need to end this soon - time almost up!

Heidelberg, Germany - Stayed with zee German there, my friend Corinna who I lived with in Edinburgh. It was great to see her, and I had such a good time just hanging out with her. It was nice to be with someone I know pretty well, instead of strangers. We just sat and hung out in her parents cold house and chatted most of the time. They had a really nice big bbq the one night so that was yummy. She lives in a cute little town outside the city - which is exactly the kind of place I want to live when I am older. I just need to find it in Canadian form. Visited Heidelberg for the day and saw the castle. I took a trip one day to the huge gardens in a town I cant remember at the moment then spent the afternoon in a town called Speyer. Its getting too hot to do as much as I was doing before though.

That brings me to now, Munich Germany. And I thought soccer fans were crazy before. Ha ha. I went out to Neushwanstein (spelling all wrong) for the day yesterday and saw the Disney castle and lovely scenery and waterfalls and lakes around it. It was a great day. Also they surf here in the English Garden. Its a tiny little river in the park and it just happens to have one wave so people line up and take turns. Its funny.

Im sweating to death so Im going to go figure out how the heck to get to this place Im supposed to stay tonight. Its like hickville Germany apparently. Thanks for tuning in...

2006-05-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

Some randomness for today. The english translation on a pizza place 'Pizza Go Home'. I thought I saw Brad Pitt today - there was a cutout in a shop and upon first glance I was convinced it was actually him. It's freaking cold and rainy here in Prague so I went and saw X-men: The Last Stand - with Czech. subtitles. When I was a kid I had these wooden dolls that would open up and then you could put the small in the medium, medium in the large etc. Well I found a huge store devoted entirely to them.

I think I left off with Vienna?

Vienna, Austria - As much as I loved Italy it was nice to see a new country. Plus they speak german. Woot! Really liked the city too as well, mostly because of all the music. My hostel was quite interesting though. I thought I was at the right place but it was like a run down apartment building with a spraypainted Arnold Schwarzenegger on the side of the door. The inside was pitch black and there were broken windows and I was like - I'm going to get stabbed. But once I found it it was quaint. A small apartment with a ton of beds (think bunk beds with 3 levels) but it was fun and the people were really nice. Met a guy who lived two blocks away from me in Ottawa. Small world. I went to the small village of Melk that is an hour and a half outside the city, since I had my railpass still. It was really cute and I saw a huge monastery on a hill and the Danube and it was nice to wander and do nothing thought provoking after a messy night train. I walked around the Museum quarter for a while, which is massive and lovely even if you don't actually go in any museums. I went into the Haus der Musik, which was a really cool interactive museum where you learn about sounds etc, plus I got to listen to the Vienna Philharmonic in a theatre. Visited more nice churches and pretty old buildling. I'm so uncultured :). Highlights of my two full days included; going to the Opera! It was wonderful and I loved it so much. Saw Madame Butterfly in standing room tickets but they were really really cheap and wow it was just amazing. My last morning I saw the Vienna Boys choir sing mass. Another amazing experience. Those two were some of the best, the music was just so wonderful. Right up on Emily-interests-alley. Oh and I saw Beethoven, Shuberts, and Brahms' graves. I picked a daisy from the grass between the first two graves but now I've gone and lost it.

Well I could update on Prague but I'm still here so I'll wait. Guess I'm all caught up more or less. They make you pay to walk down the street that Kafka lived on. What's that all about??

2006-05-28T21:36:00.000-04:00

It has been a few countries since I've update. Oops. Although from the looks of it no one reads this anyway so I may not continue updating unless I'm at a hostel with free internet. Unless someone of course would like to comment and let me know they are reading it. Then I shall do my best. Promise.

Here are some quick city updates.

Florence, Italy - I enjoyed this city a lot. It felt like Rome but the streets were all more narrow and had a smaller town atmosphere to them. It made a good city to wander around in. The lines however to get into the museums were madness. I only did one on each day simply beacause they were so long. Uffizi Gallery the one day (which ended up taking me hours to get through inside as well but some of the paintings were lovely) and the Galleria dell Accademia the next day (where I got to meet David - he's bigger than I thought he would be). I wandered up to a hill just outside the city where there were great views (since I didn't want to pay the money to go up the bell tower at the Duomo). I also attended a few masses. I have become obsessed with going into every church I see because they are free if you pretend to attend mass or even be remotely religious, and they are usually so magnificant inside. Went to a scary food market where I could swear I saw brains for sale.

Cinque Terre, Italy - There are 5 villages along the coast that are only accessible by train or foot. I stayed in the second one, Manarola. The scenery here was really great. I took a day and did the hike through all the villages. I took me about 6 hours with some stops to explore places that looked interested. I totally underestimated how out of shape I was though. Ha ha. I met up with an aussie couple and did part of the hike with them. While hiking you alternated between walking through forests, villages, vineyards, and the edge of the cliff with huge waves below. However, as much as I loved my time away from the city it was totally not a place to go if you are travelling on your own. Everyone there is married, or just married, or celebrating an anniversary or whatever the hell, and it was a pain in the ass. The second day though, I met up with a girl I had stayed with in Florence so we bitched about the PDA and everything together. Oh and I spent a day on the beach. Speaking of which I'm really tanned at the moment but I'm afraid it's going to go away as I go further north. I never get tanned too. Woot. My hair has gone lighter and is some strange orangy colour now. Anyway I'm exhausted so I'm ranting about my hair. Moving on.

Venice, Italy - I had heard from a few people that Venice was disappointing but I think they were on crack. I came over with an aussie girl, and it made the city so much better because it's one where you walk around for hours and get lost because all the streets are either unmarked, or you have the option of chosing three different street names. It was really neat to walk out of the train station, expect to see buses, or a metro line or something, and have a canal right in front of you. I loved the lack of cars or stupid mopeds running you down. My first full day in Venice we went to St. Marks Square. Thats the place you always see pictures of people covered in pidgeons. We watched them for a while because honestly why would you pay money to be covered in gross birds. It's a mystery to me. We took a vapparetto ride along the grand canal which the cheapest form of transportation you can get along the water. They make you pay at least 100 euros for a gondala ride! We were satisfied with just taking a pictures of one. We had some dinners out which was nice.

Ok I am currently in the Czech. Republic so there are some holes I will fill in when there is not someone waiting over my shoulder for the computer. Tschus!

2006-05-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post from Rome. I am half waiting to catch my train to Florence and half making lunch so I just wanted to drop in since there was a free computer. What a great few days it has been here. I absolutly love this city! It's wonderful. I am tired of the crowds and tourists though but I have seen some really magnificant things. St Peter's Basillica for example, in the Vatican city, was the most beautiful (and massive) building I have ever been in. Sistine Chapel was of course wonderful too. And everything pretty much. I will update more later because apparently my next hostel has free internet. I am trying to switch my time around a bit so I can spend some more time in Central Italy and see some of Tuscany. Anyway I hope everyone is well and I shall talk to you all soon.

Ciao!

2006-05-11T21:13:00.000-04:00

Well I am still alive! Go me! I'm sorry that it has been so long. All my followers have probably deserted me. Internet is really quite an arm and leg here and since I am on a budget that barely lets me eat, I don't have time for frivolity such as this. Anywho. Here is a quick update.

I am in Sorrento in Southern Italy at the moment. It is a really cute town and am extending my stay here but part of a day and taking out part of Rome. It is more suited to my interests (I'm going to some blue lagoons tomorrow) in terms of outdoor related coolness so that's good.

My first three days were spent in Santorini (a greek island) after a long and complicated and delayed due to 'crew rests' on the sketch Turkish airline I took. Never doing that one again! It was great to meet up with the boys down there who were all tanned and I was jealous of all of them. The beach was really nice the first day, got to spend the day getting burned and swimming. They had also hiring a Jeep and we got a drive around the whole Island. That night I proceded to get far too drunk and had a run in with a fence and a pile of beach chairs and broken glass. Too me a few days to get over that but its all good (for the sake of my mother I probably should not have put that part in - oh well!).

Rob, Hil, and I then headed over on the ferry to Paros. It turned out to be such a cute island, complete with all the blue and white buildings that were in Santorini, but with a cute little town feel to it all. The place we were staying in was a bunch of Germans which made things interesting. Since I can figure NOTHING out about the Greek language. I liked the town we were in a lot, it felt more like what I had imagined a greek island to be.

Hilary and I then left Rob to head out on a really long journey to Turkey and we stayed in Athens for a few days. Turns out it is just as sketch as everyone says it is. Our hotel was cute though and we had some nice early nights eating lots of bread and cheese. Our day at the Acropolis and Temple of Zeus etc. was amazing though. Wow. Totally worth it to stay in a city I wasn't a big fan of. I'd go into detail about all the places we saw but time is short. You can look it up on the internet :P. I loved the temple of Zeus though. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We also went to the (very deserted) Olympic stadium. It was interesting but odd to be in such a huge place with so little people.

I left Greece then after a journy that lasted a few days and involved a bus, train, metro, and a very cold overnight ferry sleeping on the deck (stupid economy class). So far I have loved Italy though. I wonder if anyone ever says that they don't. The countryside in Southern Italy is just beautiful, and ranges from rolling agricultural fields, to orchards of lemon and orange trees, to hill and valleys of trees with scattered villages on the tops of them. I met some people in Bari that were also searching for this ellusive bus stop so I had friends for the first day I was here. I also convinced one of the American girls to come down to Sorrento with me, so its been nice have someone around for a bit of the time. This travelling alone is going to be an experience.

Phew almost there. I have a cramp in my hand. Today I went to Pompeii (WOOT!). Finally got to see it. Ending up spending hours more that I thought. It was really great. I especially loved that I had seen the exhibit in Ottawa beforehand. Pulled it all together. The city was huge, and it had a lot more than I though it would ie. a Gladiator ampitheatre. It started to rain this afternoon so that blew my plans of going up Mt Vesuvius. So thats was abit of a bummer. I have decided to blow tomorrows budget though and take a ferry out to Capri.

Ok thats a bareboned version of what I have done the last few weeks. I shall try to be more diligent in the future but in all honestly it might not happen. I am writing down tons though since I'am alone most of the time so thats a good thing. Going to have a kick ass travel journal.

Please say hi. I would like to hear from friends at home. And if you have somewhere specific you want a postcard from....

2006-04-26T19:38:00.000-04:00

Well I am off on Sunday. I probably won't be able to update for a couple of weeks but when I am in Athens I shall tell you all about my Greek island gallivanting. If you would like to send my any mail (for whatever reason) my address until August will be:

Emily Dickinson
c/o BUNAC
60 High Street
EDINBURGH
EH1 1TB

That is all for now. Happy spring to everyone back home and I hope life is well with you all.

2006-04-18T12:14:00.000-04:00

Please look at my Skye and Highland pictures!!! It just took me all afternoon to put them up :) And I apologize. There are a hellofalot of them. Sarah is camera happy.

2006-04-15T10:16:00.000-04:00

I just went to upload pictures from the castle from my camera and apparently I only took two? Hmm. Not even a good two at that. Sarah, Rob and I hanging out on a canon and then the view from the top.

2006-04-12T08:49:00.000-04:00

While I am not a fan of my huge-gum-showing-smile I think this is a cute picture anyway. Up on Calton Hill (sorry real pictures are coming soon - just waiting for a burnt CD).

2006-04-11T16:41:00.001-04:00

AMAZING trip (I know I keep saying it but they just keep overwhelming me) to the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. Shall update you all soon! Promise. Just know I am still alive and kicking (despite eating a scallop right out of the shell on a fishing boat).

2006-03-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

In celebration of my 6 month anniversary I have put some Ireland pictures up for in. I have some more of get-togethers and Hogmanay and random pictures of people that I shall put up in the near future.

2006-03-23T14:25:00.000-05:00

Ireland update. What a great trip. Of course. Pictures will follow because I took my film camera so have to mooch pics off my mate. I'm too tired to write in complete sentences so I apologize. It's annoying how only a few days have passed but I've forgotten much of the detail and small funny stories. I promise I'll write more if I remember them later.

Wednesday morning all 5 of us flew out to Dublin (the other 2 were meeting up with us that night). We spent about an hour standing in wrong lines at the airport but other than that it was all good. No sketchy landings this Ryanair flight. The lot of us were going to be crashing at our friends friends flat. Here's a funny beforehand story. We get a forward from this girl who's place we were staying it. It was basically an itinerary/list of rules for the time we would be there. I found it hard to believe that someone actually expected us to take it to heart. I have included some of my favourite parts just because it is so hard to believe. Rule number 1 - there will be no yelling, screaming, swearing, fighting or anything else unpleasant while anywhere in the apartment block. 3 if it looks breakable or valuable don't touch it. Etc.. Plus they sent us a list of what we were allowed to bring. I can understand some nervousness since there were 14 people sleeping on the floor of a 2 bedroom flat but come on! Anyway. Turns out she was mostly taking the piss. Which was good. Back to the trip. Wednesday we went out to do a little sightseeing, saw the Christchurch cathedral and then I got a migraine to that was that for me.

Thursday. I had wanted to take half a day and go hiking out in one of the towns surrounding Dublin. Everyone else decided that it was a good idea (I got nominated for the best ideas award at the end of the trip because all my suggestions kicked ass) so we all headed out to Howth. It was a cute little town right on the sea. And the views were wonderful. As for weather it would rain for 5 minutes, then be sunny, then all of a sudden it was a snowstorm. It did this the entire day. We hiked around the town, then out to the lighthouse where we nearly all got drowned by a huge stray wave. I fell down some stairs and was then soaked for the rest of the day. Ha ha. We then took to the hills and walked up around the cliffs. On the way we picked up a cute old golden retriever who was our pal for a while. The boys freaked us girls out by climbing down part of the cliff (while it was snowstorming) but no one died and it was all good fun. We spend the rest of the afternoon warming up with hot chocolate and cake in the local cafe. That night we hit up a local pub and I had my first pint of Irish Guinness.

Friday was St. Patty's day. Let me say there is no better place to spend it than Dublin. I enjoy the fact that I was lucky enough to be in Ireland then. It's really neat to think about all I'm getting the opportunity to experience. But I digress. The day started with the parade in city centre. We all wore green and painted our faces and acted like dorks and it was great. The parade itself was ok - too many marching bands for my liking - but they had some very creative and sometimes slightly disturbing costumes. We ended up leaving early because all our toes were frozen in our cons. The rest of the day was set aside for pub crawling. The girls left us at like 2 in the afternoon so I spent the day with the boys. Which apparently I am one of. Not sure if being one of the boys is a good thing or not. We found a really neat (I almost typed in Irish) pub to spend the afternoon in. Met some neat people, and ran into our friend from Edinburgh. There's not much to say about the day other than it was one of lots of beer, listening to Irish music, and meeting lots of new people. I held my own too and didn't get really drunk and act like a fool until the end of the night (which was like midnight because we'd been drinking all day). Oh and we went to a Mackers and everyone was drunk and we saw a fight with the security guard. Which I guess isn't that exciting.

Saturday, by some chance, none of us were hungover. All a little sore from cramming 13 people and 1 random into a tiny room but it was all good. We walked around Dublin a little bit, including the Ha'penny bridge, and did some shopping. Pretty low key. That evening Jen and I went to theGuinnesss brewery. It was great fun and we were so tired and giddy that everything was hilarious. We even tasted some barley along the way that we weren't sure we were even supposed to eat. Yes. Anyway it was neat to see the process. We headed up the elevator to the top floor to get our free pint. The gravity bar was the most amazing one I've even been in. The elevator doors open and you're greeted with a rush of Irish music and a beautiful view. There is a 360 degree view of the whole city below you and the walls are all glass. Jen and I sat there (on the floor since there were not seats), drank our Guinness, and were like ' man this is the coolest thing ever'. I can't remember what we did that night but it probably involved drinking. Oh yes - I think we went out onto the rooftop in the apartment buildings we were staying in.

Sunday. Headed up to Northern Ireland for a few days with Jesse and Matt(2). Got slightly lost on the way to the bus station (after the boys told me I couldn't be in charge of the map because I was a woman and my brain was 30% smaller than theirs) and we had to run to the bus. We literally jumped on it JUST as it drove away. We had a few bouts of good luck along the trip. This was one of them. We arrived in Belfast and decided to do a Black Cab Tour. It was about an hour and a half and really interesting. Our tour guide took us around to all the political murals in the city and gave us a good background on the religious history of the city. We got to see the 'peace wall' and the gates between the Catholic and the Protestant sides. It was surreal how high these walls were, and how much barbed wire was everywhere. On one of the murals it said 'Only in death, is man truly not at war'. There was an opportunity to write a message on a section of the peace wall but none of us felt we had the right too. Plus a guy we met in the hostel said that the day before some residents had thrown stones at him while he was writing. The entire tour was very sobering and the three of us kind of sat around a pint afterwards and thought about it. I feel quite lucky not to have to worry about that in my everyday life. There was one church that had a big sign saying 'The church of god' and was completely covered with barbed wire. When Matt commented on it back in the cab our tour guide said 'well they need to protect it' - like it was just common sense. Shows the huge lifestyle difference.

That night we went out to the Crown Saloon Bar. There were mosaics on the outside of the pub, and inside it was set up in little booths that came from the time where woman were not allowed to drink in public. You had to press a little button and someone would bring a drink to you. Also in front of the door there is a crown on the ground. Depending on your loyalties you either stepped on, or around the crown. But being the dorks that we are, we totally missed it and none of us could remember if we had walked over it or not. None of the locals seemed mad though so we must have done the right thing.

This post is turning into an essay. Only one more day to go. The best one too.

Monday. Giant's causeway. The top thing on my 'list of things to see in Ireland'. Another stroke of luck was when we were standing in line and I got the last ticket for the day-long tour. The boys were behind me so I said I wasn't going without them and the lady let all three of us on. Woot. Our tour guide for the day was a funny, short, Irish guy. We took the coast road up Northern Ireland. I have fallen in love with small Irish towns. I want to live there. There are hills, and cliffs, and water, and baby lambs everywhere. Such a pretty place. Plus it's really cheap to live there. A house will cost you £30 000 and a whole ton of land about £ 40 000. That's nothing! In Edinburgh you have to pay half a million to get a crappy house. I'm considering now doing that in the summer instead of England - or perhaps I'll wait and do the other coast of Ireland on my VISA. I digress again.

After a few towns, we arrived at the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. This is a rope bridge about 80 feet above the water connecting the mainland to a little island. The views there are absolutely beautiful, and walking across the bridge is a bit of a rush. Sort of like high ropes. The scenery was so lovely though (I'm excited about posting pictures of it soon). The boys found it kind of scary since they're both over 6'6 and it was hard for them to reach the handles. Ha ha. After this we headed to the Bushmills distillery- the oldest whiskey distillery in the world. Interesting enough even for a non whiskey drinker and the smells were something. But then we got to taste the whiskey. I tasted a shot of whiskey that would cost 1100 dollars to buy! That's the most expensive thing that will even be in my mouth. It was good too. Didn't make me want to gag. Ha ha. So classy.

Then came the Giant's causeway. We got there late because all the old people on the tour got excited about the Bushmills gift shop so Jesse and I were ready to kick all their asses on the bus ride over. We walked around the cliffs above the causeway and then went down and played on the rocks. In case you don't know what it is, the Causeway is a huge area hexagonal basalt columns that were formed from volcanic activity and rapid cooling of the lava. They look like huge stepping stones. Surrounding these rocks there are beautiful cliffs and now what I know as typical Ireland scenery. I just loved it there. We gallivanted around for a few hours until we realized we were late and therefore holding up the bus. Oops. Take that old people who like shopping.

That's pretty much the trip. We took a whole load of buses then and a flight and got 30 minutes of sleep that night so of course I didn't make it into work like I said I would. I'm sorry this was so terribly long - mostly I like reminding myself about the trip. It was a great one.

2006-03-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

IT'S BLIZZARDING!!!

2006-02-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

Last night I got the most drastic haircut I've had since the unfortunate mushroom cut in the 5th grade. Not really blog worthy but a big deal nonetheless. The woman who did it said she met a man named Dan from Canada who was the 'most gorgeous guy she ever laid her eyes on'. She asked me if I knew him. Oh yes, Dan from Canada. Ha. She said he lived in Montreal so I told her I would walk around the city yelling his name. She then replied 'well you'll know him when you meet him'. And it was hard to tell if she was for real or not. But since she had scissors very close to my head I didn't laugh.

2006-02-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

How depressing. I was in a bar full of Canadians last night who had to witness the horrible loss to Russia. Three shut-outs in a row. What do we have if not hockey? As Bob McKenzie puts it, it was 'a colossal failure' and an 'epic disaster'. So we ended up getting mildly drunk and now I have a headache.

2006-02-20T09:06:00.000-05:00

It was sunny and bright all week last week and on Saturday when I went out for my walk it started to rain. Ha ha. That's just the way it is around here though. I only have 8 weeks left of work here - which is hella exciting - and I've started planning my trip out exactly and adding dates to places etc. I am going to TRY to not work anymore after my contract ends, and just live in England working at hostels in the summer. Lots of them give you free board if you clean for a few hours a day. Anyway just wanted to drop in to say I was still alive and kicking.

2006-02-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

My flat! Top right windows of the middle building.

2006-02-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

I like this picture because although everything in Edinburgh is sort of dull coloured - the grass is always bright green.

2006-02-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

A half-decent picture of the Nelson Monument with the city behind it.

2006-02-14T17:01:00.000-05:00

I accidentally just winked at an old man. Oops. I was delivering the mail to the head honcho office guys and I turned and the light caught my eye and I blinked the left one. The old (very very) man in the corner looked at me funny and then smiled. I thought it odd until I realized I had just winked at him. Now I feel dirty.

You know the UK is obsessed with mobile phones and texting when there is a sign to warn city drivers stating, "Please do not text and drive".

One great thing about this country is their apparent disinterest in Valentines day. I've seen one or two adverts but nothing compared to home. Let's just hope that when I go to fulfill my urge of yearly cinnamon hearts overeating I can still find them in bulk.

Going to go home to make tuna casserole now.

2006-02-07T08:39:00.000-05:00

Shite. This job interview thing has blown up in my face a little bit. I had a message on my phone from the centre yesterday and when I just called him back he offered me a job at another centre that Scottish Centres runs. This is the one that's an official eco-centre and teaches environmental programming (not just activities like the other ones).

Now I had decided about 10 minutes into the interview that I didn't want the job I was interviewing for because it was just activities and no actual environmental learning. So I thought I acted so there would be no chance they gave me the job and tempted me. I didn't show ANY leadership skills at all during the activities and basically just bummed around and had a good day.

Another bad thing is that the job starts Feb 20 and doesn't end until October. So no traveling for me if I take it. Or I'd probably just stay over here until early spring of next year doing all my travelling at the end (since I'd have tons of money too). It would be all good and well if I knew I wasn't going to get into teachers college - but I won't know that until April. And that means I'll be over here 6 more months than I though.

So now I am very torn. I've been looking for a real job like this since I graduated and now I get it at the worst time ever. And must make a decision by this afternoon. Help anyone???? Please!!!!

2006-02-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

Boring update for the week.

I had a job interview for an instructor position at an outdoor education centre. It was supposed to be a 2 day interview and then I got an email saying it had changed to just a few hours, and then when I got there they told me it changed back. Unorganized much? Anyway I just stayed for the day. It was great to be out of the city and running around outside. Plus another place to cross off the map. Biggar, Scotland. Everyone brought some examples of games, and thinking exercises, and stories. Good fun. I learned a few British outdoor educational games. We also did a really neat Mohawk walk and a pole climb. It was me and 6 English folk being interviewed and I really liked everyone. Before I went home Saturday night we went out for a few pints and because we're all outdoor ed nerds - played mind challenges in the pub. Ha ha.

I also had an English boy ask me if I was Scottish. Since I said I was from Edinburgh and the Scottish accent here is a little softer or less defined than elsewhere, he thought I was a Scot. How cool is that?

Only 10 more weeks at my job. Ha ha. That's what's keeping me going these days. Plus my upcoming trip to Ireland and my potential weekend trips to the Highlands. Plus rumor has it that my sister might be coming over to stay with me for the last part of my month in Edinburgh and the beginning of my time in Greece. Woot!

Oh and my hair is now red. Very dark but very bright.

2006-01-30T09:28:00.000-05:00

Two updates in a week! Holy update batman.

A few fun things happened on the weekend so I thought I would do a quick update. My picture site is now uploaded (and includes photos from this week) but I'm trying to figure out if I can post the website without inviting everyone to share it. Kodak is confusing.

On Saturday the boys and I took a day trip to Stirling. We were hit with a stroke of lovely Scottish weather (which generally speaking is an oxymoron). As soon as we walked off the train the sun came out. Marvelous. Stirling is quite a pretty town despite it's high population of chavs (Brits who wear track pants all the time with the stripe down them even when they're not playing sports, have really bad haircuts, and walk around with beer cans at 10 am in the morning). We saw the old Stirling bridge, the place where Wallace defeated (one of the few Scot victories) the English.

Then we went to the William Wallace monument. The statue down below the monument looks quite like Mel Gibson and apparently there was quite a community dilemma over this. The monument is up on the top of the hill and may have been exciting inside but we were all too poor to go in and see it. Still neat to see though.

More hill climbing to the Stirling Castle. This is the view from uptop. You can see the Wallace monument off to the right. Stirling Castle was also nice to see but again even more expensive to get into. We tried to walk right in and got yelled at by a security guard. Jesse and Rob then proceeded to try and determine how to climb in up the back of the castle. I told them that if hundreds of enemies of Scotland in the past couldn't get infiltrate - they probably wouldn't be able to figure it out. Turns out I was right.

We walked around the rest of Stirling for the afternoon and it was quaint but nothing too exciting. Got home just in time for the rain to start again.

Last Friday night I got all dressed up and went to a classy Scottish play in a classy theatre that had red velvet everywhere. It was good fun. However, I could barely understand what was being said because half of the actors had really thick Scottish accents. 10 minutes in my friend looks over at me, laughs, and asks 'can you understand a word of this? I'm Scottish and I can barely understand myself'. After a while I figured it out though.

Hockey game last night. Edinburgh actually won. Woot!

2006-01-27T11:10:00.000-05:00

Barcelona, Spain. I'm going to make this horribly indepth because of my lack of blogging lately. I have put up all my pictures I took (which were a lot) on my new picture site but it's not quite up and running yet so for now I have included some for all your viewing pleasures.

We headed out Saturday morning to begin our very well needed holiday (both Karen and I were going a little crazy here in Edinburgh). The trip itself was pretty uneventful, except for a lovely train ride through the Scottish countryside. It was actually a nice day and the sun was shining and we saw lots of sheeps. And on the flight I saw the first mountains of my life. They were wonderful and so pretty peeking up above the clouds.

After 2 trains, one flight, and a bus (with some very smelly Brits) we arrived in Barcelona. On our way to the first hostel, we walked down La Rambla, which is the long promenade that stretches from the waterfront to the heart of the city. They have vendors on the middle walkway, and every few blocks has a different sort of merchandise for sale. My favourite two areas were the Rambla dels Flors, which was full of flowers and plants (and smelled very nice), and the Bird market where they sold animals. That's right. It was like an outdoor pet market. Birds and fish and turtles and chickens. It was really quite a sight and very noisy.

Our first night we stayed in the Youth Hostel Mar, which was actually a very nice and clean place. There were cute little cubby holes where your beds were. That night we didn't do anything too exciting - went out for some Spanish food and drank some wine and had a relaxing night because we were pretty tired from traveling. They fed us a pretty sweet breakfast in the morning and we had some strange conversations with some Irish guys that were still drunk from the night before. The one looked exactly like Martin Wheelhouse (like exactly) and the other one sang me a song he called 'Emily'.

Our first full day we started out walking to the Sagrada Familia, the church that Gaudi designed but never actually completed. It was absolutely amazing. Nothing like I've ever seen (which was a main theme on this trip). We walked around it for hours and even saw Gaudi's tomb in the crypt of the church. I'm beginning to see why people this Gaudi was such a genius. His architecture is so unique and mathematical. Afterwards we walked through a cute little street market and then relaxed at a pretty park where old Spanish ladies were playing Bocha ball. Since we were trying to save money we hit up a bakery and ate a wonderful lunch of bagette, sardines, spicy olives, and cheese. In the afternoon we went to the Cathedral (which like the Sagrada Familia was also under construction and had scaffolding everywhere). Another really beautiful place, the ceilings were massive and it was so peaceful and quiet. Whilst wandering around that evening we saw the biggest arcade I had even so of course we had to go in. Karen proceeded to kick my ass at foosball and air hockey. It was good fun and I managed to hit 2 different people with my air hockey puck. Go me! We also saw quite a few street performers that were very talented. The one group had an upright piano out right there in the street! That night we booked into the Kabul Youth Hostel (which is apparently the place to be when you're staying in Barcelona) and they had a bar right in the hostel so you know how that turned out. It was a really fun night though and we met a ton of really nice people, along with a stereotypical American that I got in an argument with and who later said I looked like Violet from the Incredibles and then insisted it was a compliment. Once Karen and I had become sufficiently 'sociable' we went out in search of food and ended up in a Spanish falafel place where we made friends with the guys that worked there and they gave us free beer.

Monday morning I was feeling it so we took the morning off. Ha ha. In the afternoon we walked down La Rambla towards the waterfront and the marina. On the way you pass the Columbus monument, which according to one of my guidebooks, is actually pointing in the wrong direction. The marina was nothing to write home about, it was nice to be by the water and to see the boats though. On the dock we randomly ran into someone we lived with in the hostel in Edinburgh. It was pretty funny and we scared him near to death. We walked down the waterfront looking for the Olympic Stadium for a while (only to reach the Port Olympic - which is not in fact what we were looking for and then giving up). I was so excited to go onto the beach though and to put my feet in the Balearic sea (I thought before I went that it was the Mediterranean but alas I was wrong). It was really really cold. We picked up pretty rocks and had a nice time playing on the beach. There was also this giant rope climbing apparatus that was a blast but way too dangerous for the children aged 5-12 as it was suggested. We wanted to go out for seafood that night and had picked a nice looking place from my guidebook but alas it was closed for winter. Ended up eating some really good fish soup though.

Tuesday was our day trip about an hour and half out of the city to a place called Monserrat. For years it had been tradition to make a pilgrimage up the mountains and most Catalans did it in their lifetime. It's a monastery in the mountains were 80 monks live along with a world famous boys choir school. The mountains are very unique pillars of limestone that have been worn away over the years. We took the funicular up part of the mountain, where the basilica was located, and then there were a serious of paths you could follow if you wanted to make it up the rest of the mountain. The basilica up there I found even more beautiful than the one in Barcelona. We were lucky enough to hear the boys choir perform in the church and it just gave me the goosebumps. I was sitting there listening to this lovely music, in the most beautiful church I had ever been in, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. We had a nice picnic lunch again (that involved my feeding some kittycats - they're everywhere in this city - just walking around - it's my kind of place). In the afternoon we hit the hills to do some hiking. It was so great to be outside in the clean mountain air (I never understood that phrase before). We hiked for hours and then decided that we wanted to reach the point of one of these limestone pillars. So bushwhacking we went. It felt kind of strange to be pushing through plants on 'holy ground' but all went well. We got to the top and the view was superb. Then we looked down and realized we were really high up and scared out of our minds to get down. Ha ha. All ended well and we spent the rest of the day walking around and looking at various statues and monuments they had around the monastery. We had decided that evening that we'd go out for a traditional Spanish meal and splurge. No one there eats supper until after 8 or 9 at night, because they all eat a giant meal in the afternoon at about 3. We had tapas (mini-portions of snacks that are on display behind glass at the bars of restaurants), paella (fish or meat with sauce over a bed of rice and vegetables), and of course Sangria. After that we went to a really neat Jazz bar and had one drink (that turned out to be 16 euro for 2 drinks!) before both of us falling asleep whilst in the bar and deciding our day had been long enough.

Our last day we got up bright and early and headed out for the Park Guell. Guell bought the land on this site and commissioned Gaudi to design something like 60 houses with gardens but only 2 were built. It was funny because after our mountain climb we were both so sore and we walked around the corner to head to the park and there was a giant hill to walk up. We groaned and looked closer to discover that there was an escalator right in the street. Outside. Ha ha. The park was out of a storybook. Some of the houses looked like the house the crazy old witch lady has in Hansel & Gretel or gingerbread houses. Colourful tiles on the ceilings everywhere and of course the famous Gaudi tile lizard. Not sure why it's famous but I know that I'd seen it before. At the top there is the wave bench that is a continuous stone bench covered in colourful tiles. It was another amazing place to see. They even had budgies or some type of tropical birds in the trees. The rest of the day until we caught the bus back we just walked around (very slowly) and did some shopping. Regardless of what you look like, or where you are in Barcelona, guys just randomly yell at you in Spanish (or sometimes a 'hey baby') in the streets. Karen just kept laughing every time it happened and that just encouraged them. I know it's part of how Spanish men act but it's still a pain in the ass.

So that's basically our trip. We did so much walking in the 5 days that I feel now as if my legs have turned to mush. Very sore mush. It was nice to be back in the backpacking mode, and Karen and I had a hard time convincing ourselves we really had to come home.

2006-01-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

Just a few pics of the Calton Hill that I found on my computer. I can't wait until things are green again! Scotland stays somewhat greener in the winter than Canada but there's still a very bland look about the whole place. I've started a photo site just for my pics so I can post loads of them for you all to look at. I'm currently figuring out what site to use but as soon as I'm back from Spain check out the link.
Speaking of which, only 2 more days. Hostels are booked. Just need to buy a pair of sunglasses. Because it IS going to be sunny there. Here's my new updated life plan. Ha ha. Well not quite life but next-two-years plan. If I don't get into Queens for teachers college I am going to stay here until December, then go home for a month or two, and then go to either Australia or NZ for teachers college. Their semester doesn't start until Feb so it would be perfect. Plus I will still be certified in Canada and it's waaaay easier to get into teachers college there. No sense going to a school that I never really wanted to attend when I can continue my traveling.

2006-01-13T11:59:00.000-05:00

As I'm sitting here at my desk, bored out of my mind, I'm painfully aware of my life ticking away from me. It's strange. I mean - I'm half a year away from being 24. And in my head I have about a billion and a half things I want to get done before I'm 30. And I'm wasting precious time sitting here in this uncomfortable chair that makes my tailbone hurt. Money is wasted on the old. What good is having money if you're too old or tired or tied down with life to do anything exciting with it. Too much thinking makes Emily a crazy girl.

Happy Friday the 13th. Barcelona in a week tomorrow. My flatmates all left me to go to London this weekend but I couldn't get today off work. Oh well. I'll be there in Feb sometime.

More exciting updates and Spain pictures to follow..... in a week... just keep your pants on....

2006-01-11T10:08:00.000-05:00

The high today in Edinburgh is the same as Ottawa. What's going on with Ontario weather eh?

2006-01-04T08:41:00.000-05:00

The sky is so strange and beautiful at the moment. Strange layers of fog combined with yellow and pink. Perhaps it means snow! We had some the other day and coming home from the bar I kicked everyone's ass at a snowball fight. Take that all you non-Canadians.

Hogmanay was absolutely madness. Went and drank at the hostel for old times sake and then went to the massive street party. I have never seen so many people crammed into a (not so small) space. For a while it was cool and then we kept losing people to the crowd or random hookups and eventually ended up getting pushed down like 3 blocks and ultimately OUT of the official street party. So that wasn't cool. But we found a nice spot on North Bridge and watched all the fireworks. It was like surround sound fireworks. They had them going off at 6 different spots.

I went to the museum of Scotland yesterday because I was still on holidays. They had some really cool exhibits. Along with an entire floor of mounted insects and butterflies. It was pretty cool. I felt like a big nerd on the 'instruments of science' floor when I was all excited seeing things we talked about in my stupid Atmospheric Monitoring course.

Our flat keeps gaining people. Corrina's boyfriend (of one month) has moved into her room, and we've had hostel folk crashing here over the holiday break when the prices are incredibly high. It's getting to me a bit. Oh well. Rent keeps going down!

That's pretty much all with me. Have two trips coming up. Woot! And I have a few ideas of new jobs and places I can search so I might consider leaving this one if I have the chance.

2005-12-29T09:16:00.000-05:00

Just a few quick snapshots I took on the way to work this morning. Yes it was dark. The one of the top is a very blurry picture of a slightly snow covered Arthur's Seat. The bottom one is just a part of the Royal Mile that I walk up constantly. And no I've never been in this Gordon's Place. I didn't even notice it while taking the picture. I should have crossed the street and done the same with the McGregor pub. Tee hee.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. The food in ours turned out fantastically. My flatmate and I slaved in the kitchen all day and it was well worth it. So many good eats. I'm still eating leftovers!

2005-12-29T09:12:00.000-05:00

Well I know it's not a picture of anything travel related but I thought it was funny. I (tried) to dye my hair blonde. And no - I have no idea why. Here's before!

2005-12-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

And here is the after. A very quickly taken-whilst-brushing-teeth picture this morning. And it does look blonder in real life. In the light it all kind of looks the colour of the roots. Bad light in the bathroom methinks. Anywho. I am closer to a blonde than I shall ever be ever again!

2005-12-20T13:10:00.000-05:00

I have nothing to write. Honestly. I work. I come home and eat. Then I sleep. I fantasize about all the fun places I'm going to be very soon and on weekends I walk around the city and enjoy it like a tourist. I didn't want to write about how very sick I've been because then people at home would worry. But now that I'm better it's safe. That's been the reason for no updates lately sorry.

I'll wish everyone a Happy Christmas a few days early. I have a few fun days lined up for the holidays so I'm thinking I'll have a pretty good time and not be homesick. This will be my first Christmas away from my traditions and family. So we're doing our own huge meal and fancy party and we bought a Christmas tree and the flat is decorated and I'm going to church like I always do and it will be good times all around. Phew. Long sentence.

I woke up today with Frosty the Snowman in my head. Worst Christmas carol ever too. My one flatmate loves oldschool 50s and 60s Christmas Rock Ballads (ack) and so we've been forced to endure them (along with his singing). I might secretly steal the CD's.

2005-12-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

I just had a near-accident and shot a row of staples out towards my head. I should not be working in an office.

2005-12-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

The city is all decorated for Christmas and the holidays and it's just wonderful. Lights everywhere, an outdoor skating rink on the main street, and a sort of carnival happening in new town. Tomorrow night I have a date with my flatmate to go out and take pictures. And he has a digital camera so I shall be able to steal it and show all of you the pretty pictures. I brought my big one to work today so I'm going to be the laughing-stock of the office and take them from our windows. We have such a nice view.

Yesterday I felt like such a local. Walking home I saw three different people I knew and got asked for directions twice. And I even knew where to direct the people too! It was all very exciting.

It's so dark here in Edinburgh right now. There is only 7 hours and 24 minutes of day today! And I work longer than that. That's the one thing that's hard for me to adjust to around here.

Last night (after going for my first run in a like an era) I took out my guidebook and was trying to decide whereabouts I should go and live in England. I think I'll try either Brighton, York or Cardiff (which is in Wales). It's funny how easy it is to get caught up in where you're going next - even though where you are is just as exciting.

2005-11-25T09:33:00.000-05:00

SNOW!!!!!! Big glorious flakes of snow. Ah it's wonderful. Although apparently the city is going to shut down now. Ha ha. I've heard even with flurries people miss work and everything. And right now it's coming down pretty decently. It's making me smile. Yay yay!

That's the excitement of the day thus far. Although it is only 9:30 am. Please leave comments. My email inbox and comments have been depressingly low.

2005-11-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe I've almost been here for 2 months. It feel like a lot less time but when I think back to when I arrived it seems like millions of years ago. Strange how that happens.

My life as of late has been pretty routine. Work. Coming home. Coughing up my lungs. Going to sleep. Work. It all sounds so exciting eh? No complaints though - I'm making money so I can be a nomad and see exciting things. I have had a few groups of friends move into new flats so that's been nice. We're branching out from the hostel. More comfortable places to drink. Which I have been doing in moderation due to the fact that I'm being thrifty.

We had another flat party on Saturday because it was my flatmates 19th birthday (yes I'm living with a bunch of younglings - 2 of the other ones just turned 18 - and this results in them calling me 'mom' sometimes much to my dismay. It is probably due to the fact that I scold them about not doing their dishes or keeping their lights on when they are out of the room. So I guess I'm asking for it). Good times abounded.

On a more travel related note - I went out on Saturday bright and early and was a tourist for the day. I walked up the Calton Hill and got a great view of the city. On top of the hill there is one of 'Edinburgh's shame' which is a replica of the Parthenon that was never completed. There are also some old observatories and some military monuments. It was quite nice and it was actually a bright sunny day so the sightseeing went well. I then walked around city centre and the Royal Mile and fit in with all the Japanese tourists frantically clicking away on their digital cameras. Took some pictures of my favourite places that I see everyday on the way to work.

Ooh here's a good one. I am trying (and I think it will be successful) to plan a trip to Dublin for St. Patty's day. I'll have a few vacation days by then that I won't have used in my Spain trip, and I have a few friends that just moved from Dublin so they know places to stay. I can just imagine how much fun that would be. Apparently it's pretty tourist centred. But it would still be amazing. Never been to Ireland either. So I'm thinking it's going to pull through.

Must get back to 'work'. It's really cold in my office today for some reason and I'm having a hard time typing as fast as I normally can.

2005-11-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

I just booked my first holiday! Going to Barcelona, Spain in January. And I'm excited! I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make there on my spring/summer trek across Europe so I'm glad I'm hitting it up now. Plus RyanAir has these free flights where all you pay is tax. £21 for return. It's awesome. I'm tres excited.

I've put off my Highland tour until December so I can do a cool 3 day one. I think it'll be worth it. Plus perhaps there will be some snow up there by then. I doubt it but here's hoping. This tour hits up the Isle of Skye (which apparently is beautiful), the Wallace Monument, Loch Ness, and many other super cool places.

In job related news - I applied for an outdoor ed job up near Inverness (north highlands) and am waiting to hear back from them. I'm slightly underqualified but I've noticed that playing the Canadian card works sometimes so perhaps they'll overlook my lack of qualifications for that. On the other hand - it's a 6 month contract starting in Jan - which is longer than I hoped to stay in one place. We'll just wait and see.

I am so sick again. Arg! Damn cough. I'm starting to sound like an old man.

It's the 11th. Remember today.

2005-11-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

Getting all settled in:

32 Hillside Street, Flat 3F1
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
EH7 5HB

If anyone wants to send me anything :) I'm going to the post office today to figure out stamps etc. so I promise people will be getting postcards and such at some point.

2005-11-07T14:16:00.000-05:00

This morning whilst walking to work I saw a drunk Scottish man take off his shirt and pants and throw them onto the street and into oncoming traffic. What a way to start a Monday. I live just on the border of Leith – which basically is the ghetto, and sometimes it is quite evident that we are just a few blocks away from it. The key is not to look directly at the crazy people.

So I STILL don’t have internet on my computer. Grrrr arg. The paperwork you need to do to get the freaking internet in this place is a mess! I’ve given up all hope. It’ll be like 3 days before I leave and they’ll give it to me. Ohhh. I just figured out how to get around my internet problem. I am the champion. Now to do as little as work as possible. I'd do work if they gave it to me. Honestly.

Last night I went to a hockey game. It was great to see since they don't even mention hockey in any of the newspapers or tv or anything. I had to explain much of the game to my aussie friends, but it was good fun. The smell of hockey arenas is comforting to me. Is that a weird thing?

I'm planning a quick trip up to the highlands for next weekend. Perhaps to Loch Ness. Who knows what I will find. Apparently all the Loch's have monsters - it's just that this is the most famous one. The things you learn.

It's a bright sunny day today and I wish I could go out and be a tourist with my poor deserted camera.

2005-10-28T09:26:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting on the 9th floor looking out the window at work. Across almost the entire sky is a huge rainbow. It's such a nice moment in such a nice city. Things are good.

2005-10-27T21:08:00.000-04:00

It was so hot out today! It went up to about 18 degrees I think. It was madness. I felt sort of bad sitting in the office staring out the window but I was still happy to be making lots of money. Well not lots but better than a kick in the pants. So to update everyone on my job - basically I'm the office bitch. I do photocopying or filing or sitting on my ass doing nothing. Whatever they need. Although today I got to take minutes in a very important interview session so I felt super important. Enough about that job. Although I do think I look hella cute with my glasses and power suit. Ha ha. Just kidding.

Some random things about Scotland...
- the paper towel in the bathrooms are all blue
- although they drive on the left, people seem very confused about what side of the sidewalk to walk on. it's madness. people walking into people everywhere.
- you can't buy a tuna sandwich without there being corn in it. I have no idea what that is all about
- bars close very very early
- all the light switches turn down when the lights go on
- girls wear really short skirts constantly with tights

This weekend I believe I'm moving into my new flat. No one has taken any charge really when it comes to organizing rent and shit so I believe that is going to be up to me now. At least I have experience. I'm moving in with 3 Canadians and 1 German girl (all of whom are 18). Ha ha. Good times will abound though. I can feel it.

Not been doing any more touristy things to report on. Going on a Haggis tour next weekend (which isn't related to the food but it's the company name). We're going to the Highlands for a tour and probably even making it to Loch Ness. Going to be good fun. I shall report on it and perhaps steal a few digital pictures from someone. Or just google it. Perhaps I'll see the Loch Ness monster. Ooohhh.

I found a job posting for an outdoor education instructor starting in January. Not getting my hopes up or anything but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Ok too full from spaghetti and the most delicious chocolate cake I have EVER tasted. I'm afraid it was even better than 'oh so good' in Ottawa. Blasphemy but it's true.

Cheers

2005-10-24T18:12:00.000-04:00

I am alive. I have a job. And starting next monday I have a flat. That's all the time I have now. Sorry!

2005-10-06T06:20:00.000-04:00

So I lied. My number is actually 011 44 7896274501. Forgot that little one. No wonder no one was calling me about jobs. D'oh!

Guess where I'm working a few hours tonight? Ha ha. It's going to be great. Sneezing all over everyone's subs.

2005-10-04T13:09:00.000-04:00

Guess what I am? SICK! Huzzah for a cold. Guess I was asking for it.

Last night we went on a Ghost Tour. Now I am a huge wimp when it comes to all things scary. So we picked the scariest one to go on. Ha ha. We went as a huge group though so it was pretty good. Our tour guide did a very good job of convincing us all these stories were the real thing. And let me tell you, when we were deep in these 'haunted' vaults, I was scared out of my mind. I ended up protecting this tiny curly haired girl that I'd met in the hostel like 4 hours before because she was scared out of her mind and the girls and guys were separated on the opposite sides of the vault. I stood in for a nice tall strong man. Ha ha. But of course there was much drinking afterwards and no one got possessed or anything evil happened.

I did some crap work today handing out fliers in the cold. Need a real job. Even Subway is better.

Cheers.

2005-10-03T06:42:00.000-04:00

And if anyone really feels the need to call me, my number for the next year will be 0789627450. It's a UK mobile number so you have to use the international code etc.. and I'm not sure about rates or anything. But you never know. Just giving it out anyway.

2005-10-02T14:44:00.000-04:00

Goodness gracious it has a been a really busy first week here. I don't even know where to start. Firstly the keyboard is different so this is quite painful for me.

Arrived here on Wednesday morning. At the airport I met a girl who had done SWAP for a year already and she gave me some pointers and such. Plus I had someone to wait in the airport with. By the time I got from Glasgow to Edinburgh and went to my orientation I have soooo jetlagged so I spent the rest of the day sleeping.

The hostel I'm staying in is pretty nice. Mostly the people here are Canadians or Aussies or Kiwis. I've only met just a few actual people from Scotland. It's funny. I think I'm going to stay here for a while - I booked in a week so I'll be here until at least next Monday. It's great to have so many people around - I've met a ton and am no longer in a hurry to get a flat. Or a job. Ha ha. Most people here are longtimers so it's a nice base.

As far as touristy things, I've done a few. Edinburgh is a really nice city. All the buildings are so nice and old and the cobblestone streets give it such a nice feel. I've never been in a city like this before, I feel like every place has some sort of significant history.

Sorry I'm rambling. We went out today to hike up this hill called 'Arthur's Seat'. I have no idea what the story behind it is but basically it's a huge mountain/hill. It took us an hour of just walking up, sometimes even having to grab a hold of rocks to keep from falling. I am so sore and tired now. But it was good fun and I got some beautiful pictures.

I can't think of anything else significant at the moment. I've been doing way to much drinking (sorry to my mom if she reads this) but it's been good. I figure I'm allowed some sort of a holiday before I worry about finding a job. I'm going to go out tomorrow and do some CV dropping off.

I'm out. Going to veg out in front of the tv before passing out very early tonight.

2005-09-26T12:08:00.000-04:00

I haven't been this nervous and excited for a while. Both at the same time. In 24 hours I'll be off to the airport. And I still can't fit everything I want into my backpack. Grr arg. This shall be my last post from Canada. I don't have much to say because my brain is so everywhere right now. First thing. Pants.

Where I am right now: (my replacement for song of the moment) Guelph - sitting in my bedroom.

2005-09-15T10:13:00.000-04:00

In twelve days I shall be on my way - off to satisfy the travel bug that's been nagging at me for years and years. I'm going to use this brand new blog so you're not all forced to read the angst and drama that is my personal blog. At this point I'm excited - but a little stressed out due to the magnitude of things I have to accomplish before my flight leaves at 4pm on the 27th. I'll be flying into Glasgow, Scotland, and then taking the train over to Edinburgh. Hopefully I'll then get a job. Ha ha.

Just bought my backpack. It's cool. I'll put it on a take a picture for you all because I'm a big nerd.

Instead of song of the moment I'm going to think of something new and creative. I just haven't thought of it yet. Stay tuned....