Well, it has officially turned freezing cold in this country. It is frosting as early as 8 o'clock so its is always bitterly cold. It is never windy though so we get nice clear days but oh my god, so so cold. This is what I woke up to the other day.... from outside my bedroom window..

I also managed to take some pics of my work.... they are taken at about 4 in the afternoon so it's getting quite dark but it makes them really pretty...

Oh my gosh... it is over a month since I've updated.. oops... So I am back in England, I have a job in Moulsford on Thames- which is the area in which they film Midsomer Murders for those interested. I'm working in a restaurant called the Beetle & Wedge Boathouse, and am living in a nearby village called Cholsey in staff accommodation.
The only bad bit at the moment is that it is winter!! Well, not officially but it might as well be, I haven't been so cold in such a long time. It was sleeting and pouring with rain this afternoon and it has been getting darker a lot earlier, at about 4 -4.30. it's crazy.

best be getting on with things now.... xxx

Alright, so I am having a lazy afternoon while in Madrid.. I am flying back to London tomorrow, applying for jobs left, right and centre! But I found some time to upload some photos... coz I have been super slack at doing it... So here goes... (and in no particular order, I can't be bothered sorting them!!)

Santorini... beautiful beautiful place. Pity though, it rained on our only full day there.

Paros... pretty beach, we did a boat cruise the next day around antiparos... so so much fun swimming in the sea.

Ahhh... an evening in roma.... the colloseum- took my breath away.

Rome again, the Panthenon.

Vatican City- I was being really lazy this day and didn't want ot face the enormously long lines to go inside, they were ridiculous... but was pretty on the outside.

Venice- this is me and some more Busabout people doing our gondola ride.. such a fun time... our driver was soo funny.

Venice some more... the view from the top of a tower, looking at the entrance to the Grand Canal.

Sunset over Venice.

Ios- by far my favourite Greek Island.. and I think this may be the best sunset I have seen... should I say that I also saw the sun rise the next morning?

Mykonos- this is Little Venice.. the brownish looking building you can see with Rhapsody on it is a cocktail bar we visited. So expensive.. I paid €9.00 for a daquiri- thats $18.00!!

So I have so many more photos but really can't be bothered putting them all on here!! But these are the pick of the bunch and I will try and put some more up soon.

Hello peoples...

So since I wrote on here last, I have been through Florence, Nice, Monaco and am now in Barcelona. Seems like a lot, but time has just flown by so very fast. I am flying back to the UK in 5 days! Which I think could not have come at a better time, the funds are running a little low.. Europe is expensive!

So Florence was very pretty... there isn´t a whole lot to do there except Museums and Art Galleries.. I lined up for half an hour, paid €10 and saw Michaelangelo´s David. I was slightly gob-smacked actually, he was a lot bigger and way more detailed than I thought he was going to be. That is about all I did in Florence.... was really tired from a few big days in Rome....

Then to Nice, France. In the French Rivieria, it is so beautiful... I can´t wait to put some photos up to make you all jealous! There isn´t much to do there except laze on the beach and shop.. so thats what I did. I did get to Monaco for most of a day... and as it turns out, there ain´t much to do there except go into the casino which i couldn´t afford. Even eating in Monaco is really expensive. If I was a godzillionnaire, I think I would really like it there but oh well. Saw some really nice cars.

Then Barcelona... I have only been here a day and I´ve been walking around all day, it has been really nice. Again, it seems like a big shopping city.. looking out the window of the hostel, and there is a Cartier and a Diesel shop.... if only! I am off to do a spanish cooking class tonight.. Sangria, Tapas, Paella and Gispacchio... going to be fun. Then tomorrow, Naomi is coming to meet me and we intend to see the nightlife in various depths. Should be fun!!

It seems I am becoming more and more slack at updating my blog. I am leading such a busy life you see!! Anyway I am currently in Rome.. having spent 4 days here already and still have another 3. I have yet to venture inside the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum because the lines are horrendous. I am going to try again tomorrow though. Apparently lunchtime is the prime time to go. I did get to the Colloseum and the Parthenon which was just as exciting. If ruins and ancient history are your thing, Rome would be heaven for you. Me... I'm not crazy about it. It is a gorgeous city but thats about where I get sleepy.

But.....I had the best time ever in the Greek Islands. I gotta say before I went, I was a little nervous- I'm not sure why but I was. First stop was Mykonos- gorgeous. Little Venice, the windmills, the beach, the cocktails. amazing. This is the island where the white buildings with blue roofs and window shutters are most obvious. Next was Paros- where we did a boat cruise around Antiparos... I thought I would get seasick, but I was absolutely fine. Could be to do with the copious amounts of Vino I consumed before noon.. but I did get to swim in the sea which was a lot more salty than I expected but so so warm.

Next up was Santorini, which sadly was raining, pretty much the whole time. But we still had fun, I managed to visit Kamari, one of the black beaches. Then we had a blast out dancing that night, along with some more cocktails... I think this was the most scenic island.

Then we went to Ios.... which was my favourite. We stayed right on the beach... there isn't much to do except laze on the beach all day- which was perfectly fine by me. Still managed to squeeze in some cocktails [see a theme here?] and a little dancing and partying. Lets just say I almost saw the sun rise about 3 nights in a row!!

This last 10 days has definitely been my favourite so far on my tour.. but i have more to go!!

Venice is officially my favourite city. I did not realise it is the way it is, about 2 kms offshore from the mainland of Italy. Pretty much built up from swamp. But it is soo beautiful. Went on a gondola ride with 3 other people from Busabout... made it cheaper and was fun. Our driver (is that what they are called?) was hilarious, he was singing the entire time and pretended to hit his head on a bridge just to make us all laugh. Then, when he was taking a picture of the of us, he acted like he threw my camera into the canal. Scared the living daylights out of me. On my last day there, me and another 2 girls went to Verona, where Romeo and Juliet was supposedly set. Saw Juliets Balcony... pretended to be her... stood on it, had my pic taken. Good times.

I then set off on my epic adventure across the ocean to Greece. I was supposed to be on the deck for the entire time, which is just a concrete floor, nothing else. But since the mother of all thunderstorms came rolling in as we pulled out of the harbour... I splashed out and brought myself a bed. Best thing I ever did.... It rained all the way to Greece. And I slept like a baby to the sound and rocking of the ocean. 24 hours later I arrived in Patras. Greece's stinkiest and dirtiest place. Only just beating Athens. It is an amazing place but really has got some cleaning up to do. I walked up to the Akropolis this afternoon, which I was also a little disappointed with. Tourists by the gallon and all the ruins had scaffolding around them... I know, I can't help it but sucks it had to be there while I was there. I got some cool pictures though. I'm off to Mykonos tomorrow, then Ios, Santorini and Paros before getting back to Athens. Then I fly to Rome in about 10 days time. Should manage to breathe in between!!!!

Hugs and Kisses xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I have finally got some time to sit down and write on my blog..... I am in Munich now, having spent the last 4 days here, and am off to Venice tomorrow.

Vienna was stunning. Everyone else around me didn't like it so much but I thought it was gorgeous. I met an Auckland girl called Olivia, so we hung out and explored together which was cool. First day there, we went into the main centre of Vienna and saw the enormous St Stephens Dom. Gorgeous. Still not finished though... after all these years. Then we saw the main palace in the centre of town and wandered, got ourselves lost in the city. Such a good time. In the afternoon we took a tram out to a HUGE cemetery- 2.5 million people there. We saw the graves of some famous composers- Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms and Schubert. Really pretty place. The next day was a late start due to the late night.. we made our way to Schonbrunn palace- which amazingly was the Royals Summer Palace, even though it was a 5 minute tram ride out of the city. This is an amazing spot. There is a zoo out there, saw some crazy animals... hippos, porcupines, polar bears, pandas. was a fun day.

St Stephens Dom

Mozarts Grave at the cemetery

The Beautiful Schonbrunn Palace with Vienna behind.

And now to Munich... The Home of Bier, sausage and Lederhosen. I am actually quite surprised at the number of men in the city just casually wearing their leather shorts. And they are not flattering in the slightest!! My first day here I went down to Neuschwannstein, the castle which is set down near Fussen, about 2 hours south of Munich. It was really pretty. I did an organised tour, which set off at 8.20 in the morning and our guide was a really arrogant South African called Brad. After the castle, we did a hike (yea, I know) through the other side of the Castle to what they called an Alpine Slide- was basically the Luge in Queenstown but a lot less fun!! and then we did a bike ride through the countryside to a really scenic lake, about 20 minutes away. I don't think I have rode a bike since the bus stop days at the farm, so it was good fun.

The next day I hung out with Heather, one of my roomates, and we went into the Marienplatz, and watched the Glockenspiel do it's thing. Then we walked around the city and saw the various sights. We had to go to the Hofbrauhaus, and try out a Stein of the local brew. Took me awhile, but I got through all 1000ml of it!!! Very Proud. Then we went to the Virkualianmarkt, which is basically a food court but outside under some chestnut trees. All the food was sausages, or schnitzel or beer. They class beer as a food group in this city.

The next day I went to Dachau, the First Ever Concentration Camp in the 2nd World War. It was such an amazing day, opened my eyes to a lot of what happened, making me want to learn a whole lot more. I did a tour with a guide who was really passionate, which you don't seem to find in tour guides, and he wasa textbook full of information. Just cannot put the words together of who to explain how mind altering it was!!

Today is my last day in Munich. It's raining, cold and I am not going to do anything. I have been going pretty hard and fast since Prague so it is really nice to have a lazy day. Plus, it's Sunday. nothing is open. Except the kebab place, gonna get one for lunch!!!

Neuschwannstein Castle

Glockenspiel

Me, with my beer and enormous pretzel at the Hofbrauhaus.

Cremation ovens at Dachau. There were 5 like this in the room.

The main gate at Dachau- up until 2001, no one was allowed to walk through this gate. Arbeit macht frei- literal meaning, working sets you free... A Complete Lie to fool the higher powers.