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November 14

Giant Update on Europe - Pretty much a Essay!

Good Morning Australia
This will be my last update on the net before I return home. And there is literally so much for me to catch up on. So I will present this in segments according to country. I’m sorry if I don’t express correctly how amazing these places really are, but there is so much I need to get through.

FRANCE, Paris:
Mel and I arrived in Paris via ferry, which gave us a chance to see the white cliffs of Dover. Which are actually quite interesting. It also meant being introduced to the BusAbout way of life. Which as we continued to find out on our trip is a extremely awesome and well setup system.
1^st night: Made friends with 2 Canadian guys (John 20, and Josh 19) at our hostel. So we went out with them and a few of their mates to see the Eiffel Tower at night. (The other French thing we did that night was eat cheese and bread for dinner, which of course tasted awesome)
2^nd Day: This was our big tourist day. We started by visiting the Louvre, then walking through the Tuileries Gardens and down to the Champs-Elysees all the way to the Arc of Triomphe. Went up the many stairs of the Arc to see a fabulous view of Paris during the day. After a quick trip to Maccas (in desperate need of food) we headed over to see the Place of the Bastille and then the inside and top of Notre Dame. We attempted to see Sainte-Chapelle but due to a earlier protest in the area and the increased number of police around it we were unable to go inside. So we went back to the Louvre while we could. That night we joined up with John and went up the Eiffel Tower to see the city of lights at its best.

3^rd Day: After a lot of confusion with trains Mel, John, Josh and I made it to the Palace of Versailles. On first sight it was simply…. “breath taking”. It is one of those places that just blows your mind and I am yet to work out how on earth the women during the French Revolution were able to storm that place and return King Louis to Paris. We spent most of that day in the gardens eating lunch and drinking champagne.

BELGIUM, Bruges:
1^st Day: I left for Bruges without Mel since she was heading on to Amsterdam and skipping Bruges. It is such a small place for a capital city. I simply walked around taking in the sights since I had arrived at lunchtime. That night I made a lot of new friends that were also travelling on BusAbout. It was especially good to meet Erin since she was the closest in age to me (19) and was from Berwick! We spent the night sampling some of the beers at the hostel bar; such as the Raspberry beer.
2^nd Day: My tourist day! I saw and went up the Belfry tower at midday when all the 40 something bells went off. Very noisy but a lot of fun. I also searched out the TinTin shop; which I had been looking forward in seeing. I went in to the Church of Our Lady and saw Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. I also went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood and saw what is meant to be Jesus’ blood on cloth sealed in a glass tube. I was going to venture inside the Sint-Salvator Cathedral but it turns out that Bruges closes down for an hour or so around 2pm. So I only saw the outside of the Cathedral since I moved on to the next place on my list. The shopping in Bruges was actually quite good since they are famous for their hand craft and lace. I also tried a waffle with chocolate sauce (combining the two famous foods together since I didn’t have any other chocolate but that.)
That night went out with some of the girls (Gemma 18, Kasse 21, Erin, Bell 23 and Caitlin 23) clubbing. We also got talking to some of the locals, which was interesting and fun. Also got a chance to eat some of Bruges famous fries.

NETHERLANDS, Amsterdam:
1^st Day: Actually did a bit of shopping in Bruges with Erin, Kasse and Gemma before leaving for Amsterdam. Got myself some ear warmers and gloves; and thank god I did because the weather in Amsterdam!
The first night in Amsterdam I met up with Mel for a few hours before I headed out with Kasse and Gemma. We were meant to be going on a pub crawl but it got cancelled so we just spent the night checking places out.
2^nd Day: Since Mel had gone off to Berlin, I spent the day with Gemma. We did attempt to go to the Anne Frank Huis but it was closed on that day. So instead we stumbled across a market that we spent ages in. After that we visited the Rijksmuseum which was pretty impressive. Most of the day however was just a struggle against the constant rain that left us soaking by the end of it.
3rd Day: Let’s just say Amsterdam can slowly wear on you. The weather was still quite bad and I spent the day pretty much by myself. I got up early and visited the Anne Frank Huis which was really quite interesting. After that I did a bit of exploring to see what Amsterdam had to offer.

But the highlight of the day was my visit to the Heineken Brewery. It really was good and well set up. But some of its displays are questionable to what mind set they are targeting. I ran out of time to see the Van Gogh museum unfortunately. So I headed back to the hostel and spent the night hanging out and player cards with Dave (20), John and Andy (both 25). Andy was heading off back to Australia the next day.

GERMANY,
Berlin:
1^st Night: The stretch of travelling between Amsterdam and Berlin meant we didn’t arrive till late afternoon. So my first aim was to get a good shower and wash my hair.
That night went out for dinner with Mel and a group of us all on BusAbout. After that Mel and I headed up the TV Tower and had a hot chocolate in the revolving café on the top floor.

2^nd Day: First thing we did was visit

Sachsenhausen, which is the remains of a Nazi concentration camp on German soil. After that we headed over to Olympiastadion the 1936 Berlin Olympic Stadium; which also just recently hosted the Soccer World Cup. If I had to choose a highlight of Berlin this may have been it. The audio tour really was awesome and actually interesting for a change. Had a blast wandering around it.

3^rd Day: The list of things we saw for the day:
Checkpoint Charlie Museum in the morning,
The Jewish Museum,
Back to Checkpoint Charlie for photos of the actual checkpoint,
Topography of Terror (which actually displays a length of the Berlin Wall),
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (is a memorial made up of different size cement blocks to represent the confusion and unknown the jews felt),

Brandenburg Gate,
Reichstag,
Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten) (Both Mel and I climbed up to one of the 2 tanks that first arrived in Berlin during world war 2),
Book Burning Square (It had a funny little room built under the square which we could look down to through a glass tile. We are not quite sure of what it was meant to be),
War Memorial (it was a pretty much empty room with one figure in the middle of it),
Berliner Dom (This was simply amazing. I just sat there for ages just looking up at the roof. It was a lot to take it. Very beautiful and a nice change of pace to end the day since we had seen a lot of war related landmarks during the day.)
Dresden:
1^st Day: Had a easy day just looking around at some of the shops and a bit of town. Cooked ourselves a meal.

2^nd Day: Went out hiking just outside of Dresden near the Czech border in the Saxon Switzerland area with Kasse, Kate (25) and Aaron (28). We went up a mountain and got to see a 360 degree view while the sun was setting. It was so beautiful and breath taking. One of the most impressive parts of my trip.

CZECH REPUBLIC, (What I have marked as my favourite country on this trip!)
Prague:

1^st night: Hanged out at the hostel bar with John, Dave and Mel playing cards and competing in the A-bomb Challenge at midnight.
2^nd Day: Went to Prague’s castle. This was a bit overwhelming since this is where EVERY tourist seems to go and there is a lot of tour groups. But lunch on the terrace over looking the Prague city was just awesome. It is such a beautiful place.
That night spent it in the hostel bar again with Aaron and some other backpackers not on BusAbout: Tyson, Matt, Rob (all 23) and Michael (28). Also a few new bus about people we met Dean(30), Greg (23) and Alex (25). Some of the guys competed in the A-Z Bomb Challenge.
3^rd Day: Had a easy day, went and did some laundry.
Went out that night with some of the guys to the largest night club in Europe. 5 Levels. Was a late night. (On our travels to the night club since the guys were hopeless at directing we managed to see and pass Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock.)
Cesky Krumlov:

1^st Day: Arrived late in the afternoon so we just had a walk around town. Completely gorgeous and magical and is located in Southern Bohemia.(The movie Hostel was filmed in this very town and while I was staying with a friend back in England we were able to compare my photos with clips from the movie. It was quite freaky seeing the exactly the same shots.) Went out for a drink and watched a guy play the didgeridoo (Yes who would of thought!) and ate a proper Czech meal (goulash!) was very nice.
2^nd Day: Went to the Castle and walked around it’s gardens. After that did a lot of shopping and simply just took it easy. That night we just hanged at the pub next to the hostel with Aaron, Kasse, Kate, Beth and Tarryn.

AUSTRIA,
Vienna:
1^st night: The first night started off pretty slow; though this may of just been a anti-climax after the Prague experience. It gave us a chance to hang out with Dave and John for a bit (since John was heading off to Malta the next day.) After that we continued to hang out with Aaron and Mark (23) and his girlfriend, Nadia (21).

2^nd Day: This technically meant to be our tourist day so we headed over to (…need to get the name of this church…) and had a look around inside. After that we ventured over to the Hofburg Palace where we explored a collection of museums that included Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Imperial Silver Collection. Since it was a pretty cold day we went in search of a café to have Viennese coffee but we ended up just having hot chocolate since we could not translate the menu.

3^rd Day: We started the day with going to the Sigmund Freud Museum, which had some good points to it and some not so good points. For such a interesting person they didn’t really do him much justice. After that since most things were closed on this day we decided just to do a bit of shopping so we looked around a lot of 2^nd hand shops and shops that specialised in 60s and 70s clothing. It was a lot of fun checking out the different and bizarre items.

Salzburg:

1^st Day: Since it is the home of The Sound of Music, Mel, Kate and I went on The Sound of Music Tour. This was a very…interesting experience but not for the right reasons. For one thing the guide had a really annoying voice and was using constant American humour. This may have been because the main crowd on this tour were American and they laughed at every single cheesy joke. The actual sights of this trip however were pretty amazing and it gave us a chance to see the lake district.
2^nd Day: Got up early in the morning so I could get a look around town before I went on the Ice Caves tour. Which meant I got a good view of the Hohensalzburg Fortress as well as seeing the abbey and the cemetery from the movie. Also went inside (…need to get the name of this church…) Which was simply amazing.
After that I went to the ice caves with Kate, Mark and Nadia. It was fantastic! It really was worth it by far. It was so cold in there that you can see ’the cold’ mist in photographs! I could go on and on about them but it would do them no justice. It is one of those things that you can only experience for yourself (but I do have a few good photos that can give you the idea.)

That night we started off by hanging out in the hostel bar listening to some aussie tunes! It is always good to here Cold Chisel in a foreign country. Then we headed over to a Monastery Beer Hall.

GERMANY,

Munich:

1^st Night: As it turned out I was really sick the night that I was in Munich and Mel and I only blamed to say in Munich for one night. So all that I saw of Munich was when we went out to get some Pizza for dinner. The rest of the night I spent it in the hostel room.

Stuttgart:

1^st Night: Took advantage of the very cheap internet next door to our hotel and pretty much just hanged out with Dave. Had dinner at the kebab place next door to our hotel. I was still feeling quite poorly.

2^nd Day: Despite still being quite sick I forced myself to go out and see some of Stuttgart. So Dave, Mel and I first headed over to the Porsche Museum. Which was okay; pretty cool to see some the awesome and very stylish cars. After that we went to the Mercedes Museum. This was a lot better, but it took us nearly an hour of lining up before we could get inside. But it was a good day spent in there and I found a very ‘pretty’ car of my dreams. After that we went out for Chinese for dinner with Dave and Dez (the bus about driver).

FRANCE, Paris:

1^st Night: Well the bus ride from Stuttgart to Paris took us literally the whole day and we didn’t arrive at our hostel till about 8ish. I cant actually remember much of that night since I was still recovering from being sick. But was the night we met Jess (25) the first American that we actually liked.

2^nd Day: I slept in since I was on my way to recovering and John the Canadian guy that we met last time we were in Paris arrived that morning. So Mel, John, Jess and I headed out with the intention of seeing the Catacombs. However again like we kept experiencing throughout Europe it was closed for the day. So we had one of the best baguettes in the world. Then we headed over to Sainte-Chapelle where they all saw why I was making a big deal about seeing it (since it is my favourite church in the world, followed by Sacre-Coeur.) After being tipped off earlier on in the trip we headed over to a Crepes shop near the Notre Dame and had crepes with nutella and banana on it. As weird as this sounds (and trust me we were very worried about eating it) it is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! We spent the rest of the day looking at the shops along the river Seine.

3^rd Day: Mel, John and I headed over to the Palace of Versailles again so we could get a better look inside the palace. Sadly due to bad weather we were not able to get over to see Marie Antoinette’s chateau. We also saw the Sacre-Coeur when the sun setting and the Moulin Rouge at night. The night we celebrated my last day in Europe with cheese and meat and bread platter, some really nice Rose and a soup made by Mel and John. Was a nice way to finish off the trip.

The next day I caught the bus and ferry back to the UK; where it welcomed me with lovely rainy grey English weather. Winter had hit the UK!

Other Quick Things Once Back in the UK:
* Had my last 2 shifts at Rouges Wine Bar
* When in to London for the BusAbout party and stayed the night at Mark and Nadia’s small London apartment. Caught up with Mel.
* Had my final goodbye with Mel….wont see her till I am back in Aust.

*Spent a week up in hull with a mate and hanged out with his uni halls block, going out and having fun!

*Back near Birmingham now, and this is where I’m gonna stay with the exception of a visit back to Guildford to pick up all my things AND to London to vote for the state election.

Well that is my very long update! See you all back at home SOON!
Love you all heaps, Love you all always!!!!
Love Megs

October 01

Belgium

Im in Belgium at the moment to please dont mind the lack of grammer since it is too hard to use their keyboards
Paris was awesome; so awesome in fact im going to be spending 3 nights there again at the end of my europe circuit
The first night made some mates and went and hanged out around the eiffle tower
Next day did the big tourist thing and went to the louvre; walked through the garden and down the champs-elysees and went up the arc of triomphe
After lunch went to the place of de la bastille then to n up Notre Dame
We planned to also go in to ste-chapelle and the conciergerie but they were closed due something to do wit alot of police: Went bak to the louvre
later that night went back and up the eiffle tower:
Next day caught a train and spent the day getting to and lookin around and drinkin champaign in the gardens n palace of Versailles which was utterly amazing
In Belgium ive been to the TinTin shop and a few churchs
seen Christs blood and went up the bell tower at 12 wen 40 something bells were ringing
also had a couple of waffles:
please leave a comment cos this was bloody painful to write on this keyboard
love u all; love megs

ps: m a z q w x are all out of place on the keyoboard as well as ALL grammer n symbols so i wasnt jokin bout wantin comments

September 10

PHOTO UPDATE :D

Cornwall - The first lot of photos comprise of Launceston Castle, Boscastle, and Tintagel (and King Arthur's Castle). As well as a few photos of Em and I at the 2 different beaches while down in Cornwall.
Demetri the Death Penguin - For all those out there who don't know I am obsessed with Penguins...well I am. So when we met up with Tom cos he down in Newquay with mates on a kind of a schoolies, he bought Em and I toy penguins that come in a bag and are called Death Penguins. I personally love my Death Penguin, and named it Demetri. So these are the adventures of Demetri the Death penguin one night when Em and I were bored.
Family - Phil & Teresa's Home Warming - Just thought I would actually get a few people photos to show everybody at home :)
Panic! At the Disco - Yes these are the non edited photos from the P!ATD gig! Again I should aplogise for the million photos of Ryan Ross; but a) he is my fav member of the band and b) he was the closest person on the stage to me and when I tried to get photos of other band members the photos came out blurrish and need to be edited. But I did get video with the rest of the band in it.
Hampton Court Palace - If you wish to skip looking at any photos, skip these ones. Even though there are some nice photos in this album, they are all scenery photos of the place and no people photos. I just wanted to get them on the net as a safety of not losing any photos.

4:03 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

September 08

Rouges Wine Bar

The last thing for today, is that I have been working at Rouges Wine Bar in Guildford. Which is really kool because I have been learning to pull all different types of beers; and make lots of different types of drinks.
It is all pretty kool since it good pay, plus tips, plus random people buying you drinks. Since I have the accent it helps as a talking point which leads to a story of how the customer knows an Australian....and maybe i know them!
Worst I had one guy try to set me up with his aussie mate from Perth.
But it is really good and I am actually enjoying working there.
The different types of beers that we have on tap are Fosters, and Fosters Extra Cold, Courage Best Bitters, Stella, San Miguel, Kronenbourg, Budweiser, Hoegaarden and Guinness and Guinness Extra Cold.
In bottle we have Magners, cider serevd with ice!!! and a few others obviously.
Anyway PLZ leave comments, ill update soon, and please check my Europe dates to see what i will be getting up to!
Love you all!!!!

7:03 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Work

Aston Villa vs Reading

Also while I was up in Birmingham for the 2 days I went and saw the first home game for the season for Aston Villa on a Wednesday night. It ended up being Aston Villa vs Reading; with the Villa winning 2-1 (as Alex had predicted to me in a sms since he was also at the game with Fred). I went with Tom, Em, and Denise.
The game just confirmed and reminded me that the best part of soccer over here is also being entertained by the crowd and their chants. The atmosphere is bloody awesome!!! Plus i got to wear my new Aston Villa beanie!

6:43 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Sport

Panic! At the Disco Gig

Hello Hello, Doing my updates in little blogs addressing all different issues, (and making it look like I have written more!)
Couple weeks back I went to the Panic! At the Disco gig in Wolverhampton with Em! It was really really really AWESOME, especially since I have their album and I knew all the words. Like any standing gig it was bloody pushy but it was worth it trying to get as close to the front of the stage as possible.
So i managed to get quite a few vids and some good photos of Ryan, who was closest to me at the time
It was soooooooooooooooooooooo worth it and i may try and go and see them again on Oct16th in Vienna!

6:39 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Music

EUROPE DATES!

September

26 – London to Paris

27 - Paris

28 - Paris

29 – Paris to Bruges

30 - Bruges

October

1 – Bruges to Amsterdam

2 - Amsterdam

3 - Amsterdam

4 – Amsterdam to Berlin

5 - Berlin

6 - Berlin

7 – Berlin to Dresden

8 - Dresden

9 – Dresden to Prague

10 - Prague

11 - Prague

12 – Prague to Cesky Krumlov

13 – Cesky Krumlov

14 – Cesky Krumlov to Vienna

15 - Vienna

16 - Vienna

17 – Vienna to Salzburg

18 – Salzburg

19 – Salzburg to Munich

20 – Munich to Stuttgart

21 - Stuttgart

22 – Stuttgart to Paris

23 – Paris to London

6:34 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | BusAbout

July 21

Titles

Titles to photos will come later, to many to do now.... sorry

8:37 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

PHOTOS - Lots and Lots of Photos!!!!

Hi Everybody.
I am really sorry that I have not been updating lately.
BUT I have decided to make it up to you by taking the time to upload and title a heap of photos from the last month or so.
So the first lot are a few of the photos from the 3 trips I made in to London by myself; while I was staying in Guildford with Chris Hall (You will note that he is in none of these photos because he chicken and won't stay still for a photo!!!!)
The next lot of Photos are from my week in Cyprus! So alot of water and photos looking like i am burnt.... but I am not!!!!! lol I promise I didn't get burnt. I actually started to turn brown; which I have been safely continued while I have been staying with Denise. We have literally had a heatwave the last week or so. It started off slow to me... but I will admit it did get quite hot near the end of the week.
The photos after that are of Lichfield and of Phillip and Teresa's house. There is also a few photos from when I went to Chester with Phil, Teresa, Linda and Tom.
And last but not least photos from the last week, hanging out with Tom, Matt and Emily.

Well I hope to update again soon; hopefully once I come back from Cornwall.
Talk to you all soon... PLEASE leave comments hehehehe
Lots of Love Megan

PS. Thanks Karen for the message. I did try one drink while I was at the Walkabout, I think it was called a Raspberry Ripple. But I plan to go back there to take some of Alex's mates so they can try real Australian beer. It is really freaky that they actually have Fosters on tape in every pub here.
P.S.S I have burnt one CD of photos that I will hopefully be sending home soon. It has over 600 photos on it :D

July 15

Long Time No Update

Well I haven't done a update for awhile. So I figure I would.
*Photos will hopefully be coming soon - crosses fingers in hope - *

Well I had my week in Cyprus; which was AWESOME!!!!
Heaps of SUN and SWIMMING, so I was extremely happy. Especially since I have tan lines again! Plus I also got to see the Tomb of the Kings and Paphos Castle.
So I really did have a awesome time.

However it was a HUGE.... &*&£%$ Shame about the Aussies in the World Cup!!!!!!

I am back in Birmingham at the moment while Mel is working in Guildford in Surrey. I am thinking about getting a job in Sutton Coldfield.... but not completely sure yet. See what happens. Mostly try and get a pub job.

Been seeing alot more family, which has been good. Went to a place called Chester the other day with Phillip, Teresa, Linda and Tom. The town had really weird but kind of funky streets. Cos the streets had two levels of shops; that was on the street. Hard to explain... maybe I got a photo I can use later to show why it was kool.

Anyway.....catch you all laterz
-Megs

10:48 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

June 08

Delay on week 3 photos

Sorrry about the Delay on photos for Week 3. I am unable to get them on the net at the present moment. Hopefully i'll have them up in the next week or so.
Sorry Mum....since i know you have been bugging me to get them on the net!

2:57 AM | Add a comment | Read comments (1) | Permalink | Blog it

Week 3

Hello Australia from Guildford, Surrey, England!
I know my Week 3 update is a little late (which my mum will be happy to tell me atleast 3 times over) but I haven't really had the chance to get on the internet for enough time to type out a few blog entries.
Before we left Birmingham, we went to the Gay Pride Festival, which was ummmm very colourful. That weekend had been a bank holiday, so most the town was out to see it. We left B'ham on the Tuesday and took the bus/coach to Victoria,London, than another bus to Guildford. We had left at 7.30am, and arrived in Guildford just before 1pm. Just another example of how bad the transport system really is in this country.
Wenesday, Matt, Chris Hall's younger brother gave us a tour around Guildford.
On the Friday, I went in to London by myself, to take a look around since I was dying to see Big Ben again. Yet as typical London weather, it was extremely over cast.
The tourist on the other hand did not really faulter despite the weather. In fact I believe they are another type of breed of human. Since i do not see the point of waiting around the Gate leading in to Downing street in hopes of seeing somebody important.
It is like a scene out of a comic strip.
Box1. The Grumpy guard at the gate. The tourists bobbing up and down with a zillion cameras at ready.
Box 2. The gates open and out zooms several important looking cars. Cameras flashing everywhere.
Box3. And the truth is revealed. EVERY CAR HAS COMPLETELEY TINTED WINDOWS! And for all these dumb tourists know, they could be taking a photo of the toilet cleaner from one of the buildings.....the gates close and a new lot of people wait to see more boring cars.
On the Saturday, Mel and I went to the Medieval Festival in Loseley. The market place was awesome...and bankrupt me. And we got to see actual jousting. Not some set up jousting, actual competition. Which was pretty kool to see, just like it was right out of A Knight's Tale......with the lack of Heath Ledgers.
We have also been enjoying the very small walk to the nearest pub....literally down the road every couple of nights.

I'm sorry the photos this week are not that interesting. I'll try to do better this coming week....since we might be going to Bath on Friday.

Lots of Love, Megan

2:52 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

May 29

Week 2

This week has been no where near as busy as the last; since we slacked off alot!!!! But we did pick up our game at the end of the week, with acting like proper tourists on Thursday and visiting Birmingam's library, as well as the foutain thingie, and the Wheel. And we found the Aussie bar, called WalkAbout.
Saturday afternoon was Alex's 18th Party Thing, which was alot of fun. Especially since Mel and I both know some of his mates and we got to meet a few more.
Jayne kept me bringing shots around to everyone of the vanilla vodka, which most of us agree does not actually taste that nice. Yet since i'm not the best vodka drinker I thought it tasted fine because it made it easier to drink vodka (Thus the 3 shots, and one coke and vanilla vodka)
By the way..... GO SAINTS!!! I got to see some of last week's footy game against Carlton early Saty afternoon. So with actually seeing game time I am always going to be a week behind. Thanx God for sms's and www.afl.com.au!
Most likely moving out to Surrey this week to give Alex some space since his exams, (Year 13...aka Aussie Yr12) are only a couple weeks away and he really needs to study.

Catch up with most of you soon, either my mail or msn, or just using this blog. Please check out the few photos that have been added!
Laterz

May 23

A Week's Update!

30 something hours of travelling!

The plane trip was quite uneventful. Started off from Melbourne to Singapore without any trouble; with the exception of the games not working on our TV screens. However I did meet a nice older greek lady named Maria. (She had been on a plane 3 times before this, and lived in Melbourne and has many family and friends there. However she visits Greece every so often since her sister still lives there.) She seemed quite impressed with our manners and got a photo with me to keep.
Singapore was quite warm even at 1am in the morning. We got off for a 30min walk and discovered not many shops were opened.
We all returned to the plane and tried as hard as possible to fall asleep to pass the time. But we arrived in Dubai in sunlight and was amazed with the landscape. It was so different to see the flat houses and white brick. As well as the forever desert.
The duty free was awesome. Yet Dubai brought us our first real problem. Since our planed became delayed by about 2 hours. (Yet that was our only real problem, as since it really actuallty put us about hour behind it was no real big deal.) Instead we got a shuttle bus to the plane on the run way, and the air was really hot. But it was pretty cool to see everything from the view of the shuttle bus.
Mel and I did manage to take a few photos from the plane of Iran's mountains.

Surprise Surprise, flying into Manchester it was raining. A typical English welcoming.

Movies watched on the Plane:

Narnia
Rumour Has It
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
(mainly listening to music, such as James Blunt, Kayne West and Black Eyed Peas)

The Week So Far!

Monday: Arrived at 2pm, stayed awake for dinner then fell asleep.
Tuesday: Walked in to Sutton Coldfield to have a look around at the shops. At night we went down to the local pub and then for dinner had fish n chips!
Wednesday: Went for a walk around Sutton Park. Went into Birmingham, to the Bullring (which is like a shopping mall, such as Chadstone, maybe not as big, and the shopping 'malls' here do not really have food courts.) with Alex and his girlfriend, Abigail.

Thursday: Chris (Hall, the cricketer that acts as my big brother) meet Mel and I at the Bullring. Than we went with him back to Worcester where we got to see his uni. We ended up having a night at Worcester with him and some of his uni mates. (We became friends with 3 girls, Kat, Holly and Clare, from all different parts of the UK. ) So we started the night at a pub (which serve pitchers!), then back to the uni, to the uni pub called the dive, then to a club called vibe then another club called sin.
Friday: Mel and I made the achievement of finding our way back from Worcester via train to Birmingham, stop over at the Bullring and then back to Sutton Coldfield, then walking home all by ourselves. That night we went out for dinner for Allex's 18th Birthday, with Martin, Jayne and Abigail (and of course Alex). Then meeting up with a few of Alex's mates at a pub. They had been there all day since it was their last day of school.
Saturday: Went for a small walk around Sutton to look at phone plans. Mel went to the Taking Back Sunday concert, Jayne went out with a friend and Alex and Abigail went to Alex's formal ball. So Martin and I attempted to watch Eurovision and ended up watching Domino.

Sunday: Woke up about 8am, called Danny back at home (and found out the SAINTS had WON) then i went back to bed till about 12ish. Dor and Fred came over for family lunch and we watched the soccer.

MONDAY A WEEK LATER: Today has been a real slow day, catching up with emails and friends and writing blogs. But we plan to go out and see the Da Vinci Code tonight.

I hope everybody is well back at home. Take Care! Hope to hear from you soon.
Lots of Love, -Megs

12:47 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

May 17

Safe in England

Hi Evereyone!
I just thought I better write an update letting everyone know that Mel and I arrived safely in England. At the moment we are staying in Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield.
So at the moment we are over our jet lag and just adjusting to the place.
So I'll write more soon!
Hopw everyone is well, talk soon
Love Megs

10:22 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

April 09