Czech it out!

Day 17: It took 3 trains and 10 hours to get from Krakow to Prague which involved lots of reading eating and Tomi sitting on my lap. When we arrived, we caught the tram to the local city flats we were staying in, with some locals. The ladys flat is right out of the 1950s, floral curtains, cup and saucer sets, chandeliers and a little book and record collection.

We met up with the group again for a little orientation tour of the city. That night we went for dinner at a local Czech pub, where we all sampled some local cuisines: dumplings, pork, duck, fried camenbert... After that we headed to "The Pub". A completely unique drinking experience. Each table has taps and you pay at the end of the night, by the liter! Then, there is a running score board for how many liters each table has drunk, and then a score baord for how much each pub has drunk, all over Europe!Disney's inspiration

Day 18: The next day we had to ourselves. I started with running some errands before joining the walking tour. We were shown around the Old Town New Town and Jewish Quarter - Astronomical clock, Tyn Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church, the 400yr old mummified arm in St. James', Charles Bridge, Powder town, Jan Hus Statue... So much! When we disbanded I grabbed some lunch n Karlovo Namesti Park before walking up to Vysehrat, to take in some great views of the city. From there, I walked over the river to Prague Castle. I walked through the complex, the cathedral, chapels, squares, it was beautiful. Although, there were no information boards or labels or anything, so I didn't really know what I was looking at.

I walked down the hill, to get some dinner at the Lokal.Cesky Krumlov Castle

Day 19: Today we travelled from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, a little town in the south of the Czech Republic. We dumped our stuff and headed in to the town center where we met Oldriska, the coolest hippy ever, who took us on a tour of the center and castle. She told us some really interesting facts and gave us one of the golden quotes of the tour "If you befriend it; it will let you milk it". I dedicated the afternoon to doing absolutely nothing which was lovely. Frank and I shared an icecream, Tomi and I had a chat and I read mybook before heading off to dinner with the crew. We went to a medieval style place where I tried some Moravian mead and some South Bohemian mead. So good. After dinner, we went to a Celtic rock concert. Oldriska and I danced the night away. After that I went to the town square to watch the laser show. It was probably the weirdest thing I have ever seen. David and I had a lot of fun afterwards pulling it apart and laughing a lot. 

The Czech Republic is a very very cool country. Prague is just the most amazing city. I think it is my favourite European city so far! The food is good, everything is cheap, the people are SO nice and the whole place just has a vibe which made me fall in love.

Meady mead mead

Poland. It didn't even get invaded.

While we only saw a small corner of this country, my eyes were definitely opened to its wonders and exports: Zlotys, 24hr dumpling shops, seasame snaps and Micheal Klim to name a few.

Day 15: We arrived in Krakow from the overnight train at 7am and found the Hotel Polonia. Frank shouted me breakfast before Tomi tok us on our orientation walk. It was eeriely empty, because it was a public holiday, and at 8:30am, the tourists hadn't emerged yet, but it was nice having the place all to ourselves. Once we were oriented, I went for a wander up to Wawel Castle. En route, I heard some beautiful music playing, which turned out to be the Krakow Philharmonic. As I was listening, I noticed a poster on the wall advertising Emma Kirkby's concert that night! And just like that, I was 25zlotys poorer. At 11 I went to the free walking tour and would you believe it, I bumped into RUSSEL GILMOUR. Our guide makes use of the local artThe tour was lead by a crazy Pole, with far to active eyebrows, who took us around to the Barbican, City Wall, St. Marys, Wawel Castle... After that I went to the Jewish Quarter, which is a very very cool part of town, like Krakows Camden.

That night we went to get dumplings for dinner, yum yum yum yum yum, before Dave and I set of to get Kirkby-ed. After the show, which was amazing, I went out for drinks with Russel and some of his trumpet friends to a really cute and quirky bar in the Jewish Quarterm which was really fun. I had tatankas - bison grass vodka, apple and cinnamon - so so good. On my way home though I got caught in a MASSIVE rain storm, in the middle of which I called Genevieve to sing Happy Birthday. I ended up sheltering in the doorway of a bank with two Czechs and two Poles for about 15 minutes, but I ended up grabbing a cab back.I polished those off quickly!

Day 16: Today was a day of intensity. Auschwitz. We were taken through the barraks of Auschwitz 1 which had different displays - correspondence, documents, medical slips, surveys, photos, artefacts. Some amazing things were 2 tonnes of human hair, millions of spectacles, and piles and piles and piles of shoes. Next was Auschwitz 2, Birkanau. The sheer size of this place just blows your mind.

That night we went out to dinner in the Jewish Quarter and I had Bigos. So so so yummy. Followed by Polish apple pie.

Overall, Poland has definitely grown on me as a country.

Deutschland. Görlizerbanhof. Think about it.

I moved from France to Germany, to begin the next fortnight of my Eurotrip. I replaced crossants with sausage, crepes with pretzels, wine with beer and merde to scheiße!

Day 4: This morning I jumped on the train and arrived in Cologne for lunch, where I found Farina's house before setting off to Bonn to get my Beethoven on. I followed the tourist walk to see the Beethoven memorial, Beethoven house, Cathedrals where Beethoven performed and ended up at the Rhine. 

That night Farina and Yüg took me out to Thai. Yum.

Day 5: Today was my day to tackle Cologne. First stop, Cologne Cathedral. I climbed the 533 steps and enjoyed the view. Next I went to 4711 and bathed in cologne from Cologne. Cool? I thought so. After that I went to the Nazi Documentation Center. There were cells there where the gestapo used to hold prisoners. The walls were covers in writing and scratchings from the prisoners. Some were really shocking, others were inspiring, but it realy added an element of humanity to the place. There was also a museum upstairs which was interesting.The Cathedral

I made my way back through the town, stopping in on some cathedrals until I got to the Rhine. I had a nice read by the river, before strolling down to the Chocolate factory. Chocolate pasta anyone?

I went back to Farina's for dinner - traditional German with bread, cheese and meat.

Day 6: Today was a travel day from Cologne to Berlin. Kiki met me at the station, and we went to her flat. COOL COOL COOL. Kiki cooked us borscht and then we hit the town. We went and salsad the night away : )

Day 7: Sunday. Market day. Mauerpark, here we come! Cue Poloroid, Jacket, Dress... We had a corn on the cob, went home for a snack and then HARRY POTTER! With homemade popcorn. Kiki and I feel the need to draw to your attention that DANIEL RADCLIFFE HAS UNEVEN ARMS!

Day 8: Today we got our tourist on. We started off at the East Side Gallery and walked along the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall to Alexanderplatz. Next was Hockeschermarkt for lunch. Berlin doner. Yum. We walked to Berlin Cathedral, talk about beautiful, then down Und de Linden to see Bebelplatz, the location of the 1933 Nazi book burning. We passed the Reichstag and ended up at the Brandenburg Gate. 

That night, Hetti took us out for drinks at her favourite pub which was fun.

Day 9: Today I jumped on Jill - Hetti's bike, and went to buy some poloroid film. I came back via Tiergarten and Siegerstrasse. When we came back Kiki and I painted Hetti's new head board, bright red! That afternoon, we went to the Holocaust Memorial and Information Center. It was intense, but really informative. We stopped by the memorial for homosexuals on the way back to the U-Bahn.

That night, after taking my first poloroid picture, we went out to dinner at Dicke Wirtin and had the BIGGEST SCHNITZEL EVER. Yum yum yum yum.

Day 10: Today was our day in Potsdam. We jumped on the S-Bahn, and went to Sanssouci Park. On the way to the station, Kiki introduced me to Adelbert, the most bizarre taxidermied concoction I have ever seen - park fox, bever, owl, chicken, duck... In Sanssouci, Kiki and I planned our lives there as royalty, rooms for friends, step-mothers, concerts, tea, dinner, baths... When we got a little parked-out we went to Brandenburger Strasse for some lunch, tea, postcards and other goodies. For lunch I had currywurst, which was an experience. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but I am glad I did it.That afternoon we met up with Kikis friend Tamara for afternoon tea before we headed back home.

Day 11: Today we hit up Kreuzberg. Kiki introduced me to Arrarat, the most divine stationary shop. Then we went to colours, where they sell second hand clothing by the kilo! After a lot of fun and rummaging around, I went to Museumsinsel to go to the Neues Museum. There I saw the famous bust of Nefertiti. That night Kiki and I played boggle at watched university challenge. Woo.

Day 12: Today we did brunch at 1900, the cutest little cafe ever. After that we went to see the Ladies in Kiki and Hetti's favourite secondhand shop where I got some great bargins. That evening, we were treated to a lovely dinner at SIR SIMON RATTLE'S castle between Berlin and Potsdam. We also played some epic rounds of boggle and pictionary. The perfect dinner party.

Day 13: Today Kiki went to Italy, and I met up with my first Intrepid group in East Berlin. I checked in, and met my first room mate, Laura (A primary school teacher from Colorado). We went for a walk around the area, past the East Side Gallery and things. That evening, we had our first group meeting where I met the other 8 travellers and Tomi our group leader. Once all the formalities were out of the way we went for dinner at a truly German pub and got to know eachother over some good chow.

Day 14: I woke up early, so I went for a walk to Treptower park where I saw a big Soviet sculpture. Jeff (A photographer from Washington) and I met at 10:30 to begin our day of sightseeing. We had both already seen the major sights, so we went a bit off the beaten track. First we went to Tacheles, an old Gestapo prison now converted into an art gallery, which was really cool, before walking past the New Synagogue to the Berlin Wall Information Center, where a section of the wall exists as it was set up by the Soviets. Our last stop was the German History Museum which takes you from 500BC through to the present day. That night we hopped on the overnight train to Krakow, ready for our next country.

All in all, Germany is a pretty sweet country. I also have developed a real taste for pretzels, and German bread. Ohhhh German bread. 

Bonjour Paris

Paris. The city of love. Unfortunately, I was a little love deprived, but these things happen. Instead I filled that gaping hole with lots of pastry, bread, crepes, coffee and shopping. Problem solved I'd say.

Day 1: I arrived in Paris and found the hostel before wandering off towards Montmarte, what I would say is the coolest part of Paris. There are tonnes of second hand shops, and beautiful shoe stores, I had to resist blowing all my cash on my first day. Naively, I began walking up some stairs, thinking I could see the top after a few flights. Many many many stairs later, I was at the Sacre Coeur. The view over the cityWhat a view! From there I went to the Place du Tertre, the home of portrait artists and tourist art. That night, Tessa arrived, and we went for a walk around Paris Plages (The Seine is converted to a beach over Summer) before calling it a night.

Day 2: Today Tessa and I set out on our free walking tour, where we met a bunch of other cool travellers. Over the day we saw Paris' main sights including: the obelisque, the Louvre, Napoleons Arch,Pont Neuf, the Eiffel Tower, and the Palace of the Invalids. After the tour, Felicity (our new Melbournian friend), Tessa and I strolled up the Champs de L'essey, the world most beautiful boulevard, to the Arc du Triomph. It really is quite big. From there we went back to the hostel for a nap, before our Eiffel Tower picnic and light show. We staked out our spot, assembled our picnic, and got out tourist on as we ate, drank and laughed the night away.Picnics in front of the Eiffel Tower are the best.

Day 3: Today I set off alone, first stop Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This place gave me goosebumps as soon as I walked through the gates. It was eeriely beautiful. I saw the graves of Rossini, Bizet, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and CHOPIN! One that I also got very excited for was Joseph Gay-Lussac. The man who's acid-base theory got us through HSC Chemistry. That afternoon I met up with Tessa and Flic to do the Louvre. People said that it was busy, but really, it was pure mayhem. The crowd in front of the Mona Lisa was ridiculous and it really ruined it. All the pushing and flashing was just plain rude. Tessa headed after that, while Flic and I took in some more of the art, seeing Aphrodite and some 16/17th Century Dutch Art - my favourite.

Next stop for me was the Moulin Rouge, via Rue Monmarte - one of my favourite Parisian streets. I stopped along the way for my crepe fix - nutella and banana, not very authentic, but oh so good.

And that, my friends, is how you do Paris in 3 days!

Summer Spanish Fiesta

My first expedition in the epic two months of my summer holidays. It definitely set the benchmark high!

First stop, Madrid. I arrived in Plaza de Espana, right in the center of the city, at about 11am, dumped my pack, and set off to explore. I had a look around the markets in the Plaza before strolling up La Rosaleda to Teleferico - the cable car. I jumped on to see the amazing panoramas over Casa de Campo - Madrid's central park which is 7 times larger than NYC's Central Park!, and the city skyine. I walked back through the park to Cathedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena, Ruins of Santa Maria de la Almundena, Iglesia de Sacramenti, Basilica de San Miguel, Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Puerta del Sol. Basically covering the main sights of the capital. Next I met up with Robbie and Ben who had arrived the day before. We had a little siesta in Plaza Oriental before doing some more sights, Palace Rial, the Opera House and Plaza Villa before setting for a feed at Casa Mingo. The most AMAZING apple cider that has ever blessed my tastebuds. Accompanied by some divine chorizo and chicken and followed by gelato made for a pretty satisfying night. The next morning we caught the train from Madrid north to Pamplona.Some damn good cider

We arrived safe and sound, headed to the hostel and met Greg, our tour leader and probably one of the coolest people on the Topdeck circuit. We got decked out in our festival gear - white with a red neck scarf to symbolise San Fermin, a missionary who was decapitated, before meeting the rest of the crew and hitting the town. The fiesta had begun. Stages, side shows, parades, talking, dancing and lots and lots of sangria. Only €2.50 for 1.5L of the "World's greatest Sangria". Haha. Then the fireworks. Oh the fireworks. So close, and loud and wow. We stumbled back at 2am with big smiles on our faces and we knew it was the start of something good.

5.45am. Too early. Nevertheless, we were all on the bus to Plaza del Toro to stake out our spots to watch the running and steer fights. Front row. It was worth it. After 2 hours waiting, smattered with mexican waves and catchy Spanish chants, the rocket went off. The run had begun. After about 2 minutes the crowd arrived in the arena, which we followed on the big screens and we were treated to some serious carnage. After all the animals had been exhausted, we went to get some breakfast and have a little nap. I went back in to the Old Town in the afternoon and took in the festival atmosphere before meeting up with the Topdeckers. We wandered around before settling at Greg's favourite bar - Bar Gaucho to dance the night away to the street bands. After that we went to see the fireworks again before ending another jam packed day.Just riding the bull

5.45am. Again. We went in and got some prime seats again and I waited anxiously hoping that Ben would come out the other end safely. After the run, I was scanning the arena, and saw his face, no longer a boy, but a man. Haha. The steers were released, and it was even more epic than the day before. One even decided to jump the safety fence into the crowd! We headed back for breakfast and I had a nap before heading back in again. I stumbled upon a way cool band - La Rana Mariana and I bought their CD. The group then met up for a sit down dinner to say goodbye before we went in to the Old Town for the closing ceremony, saw the final fireworks display and then danced the night away.

2pm. Wait what?! Once I recovered from the shock of such a massive sleep in, Ben and I just spent the afternoon strolling around, having gelato and a picnic in the park. The guy at the hostel reception also told us that we had been on TV the night before, check it out! <http:></http:>

Another early morning to catch the train to Barcelona. We shacked up at Creative Alternative Youth Hostel and set off to introduce ourselves to the city. We walked down La Ramba, the main drag and got some AWESOME felafel and eventually ended up at the beach. Yay. We then went to the Citudel park and the Arc du Triomf before going back to the hostel. That night, Al, the hostel guy, took out a bunch of backpackers to the Raval Music Festival for a fun night of music.

Next day I headed off by myself while Ben had a little sleep in to see the Gaudi architecture Barcelona is so famous for. I saw Casa Batilo, Passeig de Gràcia and Sagrada Familia, where I met Francisco who gave me a little personal tour of the cathedral and gardens! I made my way back via Placa Rial and the Barcelona Cathedral to meet up with Ben. We headed up to Montjuic, where we wandered around, then went to the Magic Fountain. Wow. We met up with Hampus, out Swedish friend, then went to the Big Bang jazz jam session for an awesome night out. I even got to get up on stage! Woo!

Ben and I made the journey up the top of Barcelona the next day - Gaudi's Guell Park. It was pretty amazing. We perched ourselves on the edge of the path and slurped on some watermelon while taking in the views. Then we got our tourist on and saw some buskers, art and Gaudi's house. Gaudi's houseIn the afternoon we migrated hostel then went back into town to see a Flamenco show which was pretty damn amazing. We finished the day off at La Fonda with some awesome paella and Sangria (which was significantly better than San Fermin's 'worlds greatest sangria', surprisingly : P).

My last day in Spain was spent at the hostel laying around the pool working on my non existent tan, reading and recovering from an epic week and a half in a country which doesn't sleep. It has definitely been the best start imaginable to my Summer holidays!

Thirty days has September, April, June...

The month began in a most sublime way, on the shores of the Mediterranean in Italy. Once I hit London's shores again, I spent a few days getting into the swing of school again, with a smattering of touristic adventures. 

Wednesday night, on a tummy full of delicious Chinese, we went to the Queens theatre for Les Miserables. Wow. Wow. Wow. The singing, the acting, the music, the sets... It was just divine. Mum came out crying because it was just so magical. The rest of the week was quiet, saving up my energy for the weekend. Friday night Mum, Tessa and I had a little birthday celebration in the flat. Mum cooked some lip smacking San Choy Bao which we finished off with a big slab of mud cake.

Saturday morning I spent psyching myself up for a happy happy birthday of nudity, bike rides and parties. At 12 o'clock I set off on my bike to Hyde Park for the World Naked Bike Ride. After watching the Queens Birthday march and fly by, I introduced myself to Molly, Luke and Zoe, and we had a little picnic on the grass. The hour of 3 o'clock drew nearer when we received the call to the Secret Garden. We soon stripped off and got our Picasso on, painting ourselves and each other. Once we were all done, we set off again to the rendezvous point, along with over 1000 other naked bicycle enthusiasts. Then we were off. The route was about 6miles all up, going through Piccadilly, Westminster, Waterloo, St. Paul's... We definitely made a statement. That evening, I made my way back home and got all spruced up for a night on the town. Robbie came and picked me up and we went to a cute Italian restaurant in St. Johns Wood, the cannelloni was scrumptious. Next stop, the Purple Turtle, Camden. Robbie and I met up with Tessa and had a wild night, dancing the night away to 90s hits, and downing too many Jägermeister shots until 3am. Sunday was spent recuperating, surfing the net, lurking, making decisions about my future... I know I did something else, but I can't remember at the moment. My first shots. Jagermeister.

Monday started another working week dotted with rehearsals, concerts and trips before the weekend. Saturday was spent moseying around the Royal Academy. I listened to some amazing brass music, then had a look around the museum. Next stop was the Wellcome Collection. Sunday, Jungle Book. It was the day for setting up and technical rehearsals... So much Jungle Book.

Another week of rehearsals and concerts, which was finished by tea with Helen and mum in a cute cafe near home.

On Saturday I introduced mum to the wonders of Portobello Rd Market. We immersed ourself in possibly my favourite part of London for a few hours, had some Ghanian and Spanish for lunch before going on a bit of a spending spree. I came away the proud owner of many many scarves, a pair of pants and a 1940a vintage Liberty cape - it is DIVINE. After that we headed to Oxford St. to do some shoe shopping before walking to the Adelphi on the Strand. We got some Japanese for dinner before going to see Love Never Dies. It was pretty impressive, the end was a bit of a let down though. The hagen-daas at interval made up for that though : ) Sunday Mum, Susan (a friend from the hostel) and I made the most of the good weather and went for a walk through Primrose Hill and Regents park. The Queen Mary rose garden was really something! All those roses in the summer were stunning. We parted at 12 as I headed off to Chiswick to go to my free Mandarin trial class. My brain basically melted, but at least I know now that it is achievable if the need arises to learn Mandarin : ) I met up with mum again in the afternoon before heading over to Southwark for Compline in the evening. We sang some awesome music (i'll edit this and let you know when I find the composers) Then just a early night in.

The last week of June arrived unexpectedly, where has the month gone? But I made sure it went out with a bang. Monday was spent lounging around Hampstead Heath on the year 8 Bushskills excursion. What ana amazing day. We learnt all about making fire, making spears, making shelters, foraging and orienteering, topped off by an ice-cream in the summer sun. Mum and I went out for a goodbye dinner on Monday night, to Dans Le Noir? Pretty much the most amazing dining experience I have ever had. The restaurant is staffed by blind people, and you eat in pitch black darkness, as in you can't even see your hand when you hold it in front of your face. But that is only half the fun, you don'y actually know what you are eating, so you have to guess! Just wow.

Tuesday morning I was up early to say goodbye to mum before another day at work finished off with a Merbecke rehearsal. Wednesday evening was a Teatime concert. Close Harmony sang Siyahamb' and Zamina and were definitely the stars of the show : ) After that me, Tessa and Maddy were treated to Curry on Brick Lane with the Kays. It was sooo delicious and it was really nice meeting Helen's daughter Hannah, she was great : ) Thursday, the last day of the month was nothing special, except for the fact that all the teaching staff were on strike, so I played rounders (weird English version of softball) all day at the ground with the girls and packed for my Duke of Ed expedition which leaves tomorrow!

All in all, a pretty eventful month, but the big countdown to summer is on now! Woo!

Just some Pina Coladas before dinner...

A week in the Mediterranean

We arrived in Valetta, Malta, at 11:30pm on Friday night. After a manic taxi ride across the 12mile x 17mile island, we arrived at the Bayview Hotel.

Day 1: Saturday morning started with a bus ride, full of crazy Spaniards, into the city. We had a walk around the mesmerising streets and alleys before stopping for gelato, our first of many, which we devoured by the msin square watching a water fountain show. We then stopped in St. Johns Co-Cathedral, built by the Knights of St. John in the 1560s. The whole floor is made up of tomb stones of coloured inlaid marble. Simply AMAZING. Then we went to the Upper Barrakka Gardens to watch the Saluting Battery, a deafening blast from a restored canon at 12pm. Next stop was the War Memorial where we saw the plaque for Clifton Lawrence Hughes, my Great Grandfather, who went missing in action over the Mediterranean in 1944. We then walked around the north side of the peninsula, past the forts, bastions and curtains, up to Fort St. Elmo before going to get some lunch at 'Malta's best pizza shop'. Yum. After that we went on a tour in the house of a Maltese noble family. I learnt a lot about maltese history and culture. We also got to see the WW2 bomb shelters 100ft underground! Then we caught the ferry home for a well deserved rest.

Day 2: After some miscommunication, we arrived at the dock for Hera Cruises, where a giant, luxury yacht awaited us. We sailed around the east and north sides of the Island to the Blue Lagoon. When we arrived, we hopped off and explored the little outcrop and found a little swimming hole where we took a dip before heading back to the yacht for a delish buffet lunch. After that we lazed around and read, I jumped off the boat a few times and went for one last swim before we headed home. That night, the sunburnt red tomato that I was, found a little restaurant where we had the most amazing meal, Rabbit (the national dish) and octopus pasta followed by a pear and ricotta cheesecake. Wow.

Day 3: The next morning was eventful for all the wrong reasons. We were waiting out front for the 6:15am taxi we had booked, and waiting, and waiting. I went inside and they said that he was running late, but we didn't have anytime to spare, so they got one of the kitchen staff up out of bed to drive us in his own car, baby seat and all. We got on to the ferry with not a moment to spare, and sailed off in the direction of Sicily. We docked at the small fishing town of Pozzallo and then caught the train to Siracusa. When we arrived at Siracusa, we realised that we didn't know how to get to our B&B and the lone taxi was without a driver. A really nice Italian man, with a giant belly, who spoke a little English, tried to find the cab driver for us, asking around in the pubs and things, but to no avail. He offered to drive us there himself, but we managed to get in contact with Sabrina, the B&B owner who came to pick us up. She drove us to Giugiulena, where she showed us our room and gave us a little orientation to Siracusa. Our room was on the bottom floor, the Mediterranean was right outside our door, simply beautiful. We spent the afternoon looking at the Catacombs, there are over 10 000 tombs, and it was where the first Christian community met outside of Israel in 39AD. Then we walked around and through the archaeological site before making our way back home. For dinner we went to a gorgeous restaurant up the hill where we had a divine pizza (Quattro Stagioni) and Pasta (Tonno al Gnocci)

Day 4: I started my day with a swim in the sea. Bliss. After breakfast we went over to the island of Ortiga for our Segway tour! Valario took us through all the winding lanes, to the Piazza Archimede, Fonte Aretusa, Duomo, Apollo's Temple and the Maniace. It was definitely an experience to remember. We spent the afternoon ransacking my mum's suitcase and making expensive international phone calls to try and find her lost credit card and drivers licence. We had a late dinner at a spaghetti restaurant on Ortiga.

Day 5: Our time in Siracusa was up. In the morning we caught the train to Messina and made a mad dash from the station to the ferry. On the ferry we met Daniela, a lovely Italian lady who told us all about the Eolian Islands. Other then that, the ride was frickin boring. When we arrived, we made our way to our accommodation at Baia Portinenti. After we checked in, we went down the main street for some takeaway. I had some Fagottini and Aracini, Yum yum yum. We had a bit of an explore before stopping for dinner at a pizzaria, followed by gelati. I had two WEIRD flavours: Lipari - which had hazelnuts and glace cherries; and Zaguba - Orange, caramel and bits. Weird, but good.

Day 6: We had a leisurely morning wandering around and eating granitas. We bought a picnic lunch for the supermarket: salamis, rolls, cheese, baked ricotta, salad...Mmm. We met the boat at Marina Corta to begin our voyage to Stromboli. First stop was at Panarea. We sailed through the bluest bay before stopping at the town where we had our picnic on the rocks. After some relaxing and reading, we took a wander around the island. Panarea is very exclusive, but very beautiful.

We hopped back on the boat and headed on to Stromboli. We sailed around the Strombolicchio before heading to the village. We went for a swim at the black sand beaches. It was so so so nice and calm. Absolutely amazing. The water was so warm too. Once we had dried off, sunbaking and reading, we found a beautiful restaurant up the hill to have dinner - aubergine pasta and squid spaghetti. So good. We hoped back on the boat and watched the sunset before hanging for some Stromboli eruption action. Unfortunately we only got to see 3, but still I saw a volcano erupt, which is pretty cool I think.

Day 7: Mum was not feeling well this morning, so I headed off solo. First I bought our ferry tickets and then had a wander around in the blistering sun. I strolled down orange tree lined streets and under fruiting fig trees before heading back to the B&B. Mum and I went out to find some lunch, ending up at the takeaway joint again with some divine 1.50 pizza slices. Then we went up to Lipari Castle, a site which has been occupied since neolithic times, through the greeks, romans, normans and spaniards. That night we had stuffed squid for dinner, a Eolian specialty.

Day 8: We were up at the crack of dawn to get ready for the 6:45 ferry to Reggio Calabria. After a relatively uneventful ferry ride, we had a far more interesting trip to the airport. We couldn't find anyone between the port and the bus station who spoke english, so after some enthusiastic charades and mum's fragmented Italian, we got the message across that we needed to go to the airport. The bus driver said, what we thought, was yes. We drove all through Reggio Calabria. After about 30 minutes, we were back where we started! The bus driver reassured us (we thought) that he was on his way, and after he took his 15 minute break, reading the paper, we set off again. In another 20 minutes or so, he pulled up at the airport. Yipee! And he didn't even charge us. What a champion. Then began the wait of all waits, for our plane to Venice. I perused the single shop in the airport before boredom overcame me. We got to Venice, finally, I whipped out the map, and we set off to our next accommodation. We found the Laguna, and a nice message left from the owners. After we settled in to our room, we set off again to find a concert to go to that night. We stumbled upon Vivaldi's 4 seasons. Jackpot. We got some dinner at a little cafe, the cheapest we could find in the ridiculously overpriced Venician market before heading off the the most mind blowingly amazing concert I have seen in a while. The ensemble, music, presentation, venue, everything, was perfection. On the way back, we got some gelati which we ate on the Rialto bridge, before hitting the hay.

Day 9: We started our last day at Mass, in San Cassiano. The nuns, dressed in white, lead the singing. There were even nuns on guitars! The church was beautiful as well. So ornate. The language of the readings and sermon was mesmerising too. After that, we marked our last day in this amazing country with a big shopping spree. Zigzagging through the streets finding the best bargins, the perfect necklace, the right coloured bag, presents, jewellery... After 6 hours straight, we were exhausted! We had some lunch sitting on the grand canal, watching the boats float by. Then I caught the ferry over the St. Georgio Maggiore, a setting from Vikram Seth's book, An Equal Music, and I saw some inspiring art and photography displays over there too, while mum took a well deserved coffee break. We met up again and did the final shopping rounds before going back to the hotel to get our bags and head home.

I could recount the... eventful trip back home... with almost every airport error obstructing our journey.. but I would rather not.

All in all, an AMAZING week. I cannot WAIT to go back there in August! Yippeeeeeeee.