Hello Queen!

Saturday 13th was Trooping the Colour day - a celebration of the Queen's birthday where lots of guards and their horses do lots of parading up and down and generally entertaining the Queen. There's also a flyover by jets and what not. It only happens once a year so I thought I should go check it out.

Got down to Buckingham Palace around 10am; the trooping was supposed to start at 11am but there were already stacks of people about, armed with British flags and all sorts. They're kinda patriotic over here it seems! I got a possie sitting on a very uncomfortable fence thing, but it elevated me up a bit so I stayed there for all the guards' marching and the Queen's exit of Buckingham Palace and down the mall to this amphitheatre thing where most of the entertainment would take place. You could see that as well, but you had to buy tickets, most likely exhorbitantly priced. So I went for a walk instead, around the opposite side to where I was to see if I could get a better position. Had to push through a huge crowd in the process (I hear there were around 20,000 people there) and climb over a fence! but eventually got through the main traffic.

The other side was less busy, and I could even see some of what was going on in the amphitheatre! True, it was mostly just red specks in the distance, but still. Better than nothing! Found a place which was right near a lot of guards on horses and saw the Queen & co come out on the royal balcony and wave her little royal wave. Then she (and the others) left. I was quite happy with that but next thing I knew they'd opened the gate which was right in front of me & I got pushed through to the front of the Palace, where everyone was congregating about 3 meters back from the fence for some reason. Well, I'm not one to go against the crowd, so I stood there too, and lo and behold, the Queen came back out! And we were back far enough that the gate didn't obstruct the view - good old Londoners, they know what they're doing! The planes started doing their flyovers then - quite impressive - especially the last lot which let out the British colours as they went overhead. They got a clap for that.



All in all a good day - got some bonza photos of the royal family up there and then had another wander around the city - did a loop of the Palace, up past Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, across the Thames, past the London Eye and back over the bridge to Trafalgar Square. Really helped me order the city's layout in my head. Was heaps busy everywhere though - the weather was a gorgeous 21 or 22 and sunny and the tourists were out in force! Lots of street performers by the London Eye, some better than others. And it seemed lots of them dressed up as various characters from movies for some reason - I saw Captain Jack Sparrow, Shrek and Charlie Chaplin to name a few. Random...

Sunday Shopping

After a very well earned sleeping day on Saturday, I met up with Suzie again on Sunday to go shopping and check out Notting Hill. Met up with her on Oxford St - street of all streets for shopping! Went into numerous shops and resisted buying many things (it's all so much more expensive when you convert everything back to AU$! Will be much better once I'm earning £'s). Suzie didn't resist quite so much and ended up with a few things - all pink to our amusement! But they were all really really lovely, so I don't blame her :)

Once we were all walked/shopped out (on Oxford St in any case) we caught the tube to Notting Hill and kept our eyes peeled for blue doors and the Portobello Markets. Turns out there are lots of blue doors in Notting Hill - not sure if they came before or after the movie? and a travel book shop like the one in the movie obviously set up for tourists (we saw a few people having a photo out the front but we resisted - it seemed kinda tacky...). Also turns out we don't read signs enough - after walking for what seemed an age in what we thought was the right direction for the markets we gave up and went back in the direction of the main road - only to then see a sign pointing in the direction of the markets - where we'd just come from! So we turned around and set out once again. Eventually found it, in a very round about way! By that time a lot of the shops were already closed up for the night, but there were still a fair few places open - so cool. I really like Notting Hill - it had a very cool vibe about it.

Walked back to the main road via all these cute little streets - one where George Orwell had once lived! Stumbled upon so many cute little shops with the most gorgeous dresses - I had to buy one, it was just so lovely! Heaps of vintage shops too. Loved it. Made our way to Kensington Gardens and had a lovely stroll through said gardens. Very pretty, although it was turning very cold - very odd sort of day, was sunny and bright and hot for parts of the day and the next thing you knew it was raining and cold! Ah, good old London... Anyway, saw some squirrels in Kensington Gardens - cutest little critters! They're so bouncey, they don't just run, they bound! So cute. Looked like real tourists when we got the camera out and started clicking away!

Managed somehow to end up on the other side of the gardens coming out by this enormous statue of Albert, across the road from Royal Albert Hall - looked very schmish. Went back via Kensington Palace and ended up in this quaint little Italian place for tea, where our 1/2 sized bottle of wine was the most expensive thing we ordered! Hmm... Got a pizza to share - man, those Italians sure know how to make pizza! Can't wait to go to Italy and try out the real thing in the real country! But we reckoned the pizza from an Italian restaurant in England should be better than an Italian restaurant in Australia, if only for the proximity to Italy... and I reckon we were right. It was very good pizza.

Headed back into the city with our bellies full and warmed by the wine, only to find the stop we wanted to get off at was closed for the night - grr! So had to get off at a different stop and walk. And walk and walk. We wanted to walk along the Thames at night... We eventually got there. And it was very pretty to see Westminster Abbey all lit up by lights, and Big Ben illuminated against the night sky, and the London Eye standing tall and stark on the other side of the river.

By this time it was way past my bedtime (still feeling very sickly and all) so we made our way to the nearest tube and caught the very last train for the night home! They close early on Sundays - it was only around 1/4 to 12. Said seeya to Suzie on the tube and just managed to make the connection for the last train to my stop - thank goodness, really didn't feel like any more walking!!

London sightseeing 5/6/09

Day 2 in London - woke up feeling so much better than the previous day thanks to the wonder that is cold & flu tablets. Caught the tube into town again - today Suzie & I were going to watch the changing of the guard! Picked up a £2 brekkie from Subway and headed down the mall towards Buckingham Palace. As we were walking we noticed a whole lot of police cars escorting a few normal cars down the road. We paused, thinking it was probably some form of royalty we wouldn't recognise and who should drive past but the Queen and Prince Phillip! Wearing a nice pink ensomble, if her hat was anything to go through. So that was kinda cool - in London all of 2 days and already seen the Queen!

Was all cold and windy as we continued, not a nice change from the beautiful warm sunny day at Stonehenge. Found a possie in front of the palace around 10.30 and settled in to wait for the changing to start. There were a lot of people milling around, and a lot of umbrellas as it started to drizzle on us. Thank goodness Suzie had her brollie! We happened to pick a spot behind some other Aussie tourists from NSW - man they had Aussie accents! Suz & I sounded positively British next to them! Was good though, as they let us lean around them to get our photos later :) and they were good to chat to while we were waiting.

Around 11.30 a whole lot of guards wearing the black fluffy hats and the red coats with the shiny shoes came marching around, complete with band, but no horses unfortunately. They marched into the front of Buckingham Palace and then we settled in for the show. The band set up right in front of us practically, and then proceeded to play the randomest music - sounded like stuff we would've played in concert band in high school! Not at all what I expected them to play. And then there was confusion when they finished a piece - are we expected to clap?

They distracted me sufficiently to miss the actual changing. I looked over and the new guards were already stationed in the old guards places. Dang it! I did enjoy all the marching around looking important and shuffling of feet to get in line though. Good times.

Walked back into the city and headed to St Paul's Cathedral. Got in at student rates :) and was just getting the old camera out when I noticed the bevy of signs everywhere - no photography. :( Man it was beautiful in there - so I sneaked a couple. I couldn't not! So much detail and so much gold trimming! It positively glittered. So so so beautiful. We climbed up to the upper levels and to the outside lookout parts - we could take photos out there :) Gorgeous views across the whole city. Was still pretty overcast but not raining at least. Couldn't climb to the highest lookout part as it was closed indefinitely for renovations... but probably enough stairs to the first lookout! And very oddly positioned as well - they were hardly even steps they were so close together! And spiral too so got very dizzy by the end of it. Visited the gift shop and bought some postcards of the gorgeousness inside seeing we weren't allowed to take photos - all part of their sly plan I'm sure!

We then went off to find Harrods - after searching for it unsuccessfully earlier in the day. This time we had directions though! Found it no troubles. Man it's spiffy! And very expensive. I did buy some teddy bears from Harrods though - one guard teddy and one british cop teddy - they were just so cute, I couldn't resist! Had a wander through the other sections of Harrods - including the sections where you just don't want to touch anything cos it's all so expensive! Bags for over £1000, scarfes for £500... I did fall in love with a dress that didn't have a price on it - I presume if you're (seriously) shopping in there you don't need to ask prices. Also saw some beautiful gloves that I may actually go back and buy one day once I'm earning money... so gorgeous.

Then - and this I think is one of the main reason I love London - Suzie and I decided to go see a theatre show that night. Just went to the ticket booth place that sells last minute tickets for cheap and got two tickets to Billy Elliot - pretty good seats, £38, you know, the usual. You'd never be able to do that in little Adelaide!! Was an utterly fantastic show. And wow - can the kid in the show dance! It was amazing! Great music, great show.

Great 2nd day in London town!

First day in London 4/6/09

First day in London! I'd planned to meet up with Suzie (Adelaidian housemate) who had already been in London for week or so, so caught the tube into meet her. At the Kentish Town station (my local) I got asked directions by an American, Aldo, who was on holidays in London til Sunday. Kinda stoked I looked like I knew what I was doing! Anyway we got chatting, seeing we were both new & I gave him my number to catch up later that day for a drink or something. Unfortunately, I gave him my Australian number without any of the prefixes (+61 etc) so later that night when I was a bit miffed he never called I worked it out - he probably couldn't get through. Oops!! First mistake from living in a foreign country...

Anyway, I managed to change at the right station and get off at the right stop (Waterloo - makes me think of Abba everytime!) and everything! And found her without too many hassles too :) Got some brekkie and the much needed coffee and our tickets ready to see Stongehenge! We'd both heard not fabulous things about Stongehenge eg don't waste your time, but we both felt it really is one of those things you have to see. So we got on the train and prepared for the ride. It was about this time my body decided to react from all the travel/lack of sleep/rest and come down with a cold/flu so I was feeling a bit crap.

Nonetheless we pushed on and after going past all the gorgeous English countryside we got to Salisbury (nothing at all like the Adelaide suburb haha!) where we caught the Stongehenge tour bus. After a small detour through some of the small towns on the way (they were all so cute!) we arrived at Stongehenge. Gotta say first impressions were not all that impressive. The stones didn't look that big and it was situated right next to the main road. Suzie and I agreed that it would've been much more impressive if you couldn't see it from the road, but had to walk through forest or something in order to reach it - and at the last moment it looms up in front of you, appearing out the mist... well, after listening to the audio guide (man did that thing dribble on about stuff I didn't really care about!! some interesting things - 'henge' apparently means 'hanging of' - but a lot of stuff I wasn't fussed with. And some interesting (read: strange) sound effects!) it sounded like that's how it was back in the day, before someone put the road there & started charging admission!

And admitedly after listening to the audio guide and finding out that 1/3 of the stones are actually under the ground, and how heavy all the stones are, it is a bit more impressive they managed to erect them all there when they did, without help from machinery etc. And clever how you can use it as a clock, and calendar, and the symmetry of it. Suzie & I went crazy with the camera, I think we got a photo from every single possible angle! Oh dear...

Once we'd finished circling Stonehenge & bought up on souvenirs (I got a pen that says "Stonehenge rocks!" - hilarious, I know!) we boarded the tour bus bound for Old Sarum, ruins of an old castle and town that used to stand just out of Salisbury. On the way though we got distracted by a pub on the side of the road, advertising cheap food. Mm, lunchtime! It was gorgeously sunny as well so we soaked it up while eating - almost fell asleep too. Dragged ourselves up and over to Old Sarum eventually. At the gift shop I got talked into joining English Heritage - I got an annual pass that lets me into all sorts of castles, old houses & abbeys for free... now just to get to them all! Also bought a fantastic quill feather pen - a real one and everything so now I have to buy some ink, and then I can learn calligraphy - I decided that can be (one of) my London pastime - learn to write old school. :)

Looked around the ruins for a bit, marvelled at how they used to live, and the shitty jobs some of them had (literally - urgh). Pity none of it was left standing, it would've been a sight in the day! Unfortunately due to my lovely cold/flu thing I didn't really take a whole lot of the info in so can't tell you too much more about the place. But it was impressive & had an amazing view.

Caught a bus back to Salisbury and proceeded to walk around the town, marvelling at the beautiful old buildings (still can't get over that, and how they are now used for everyday mundane things like clothes shops and pharmacies...) and eventually making our way to Salisbury Cathedral - the cathedral with the highest spire in the UK. It really was massive - unfortunately, like a lot of the old buildings over here, they were doing some reconstruction so there was a lot of scaffolding in the way of the beautiful old detailing.

We made our way inside and what do you know - there was a service about to start. We sure know how to time it! So we couldn't look around a whole lot, and parts were blocked off, but on the upside we got to hear all the little choirboys sing! Yes that's right Mum & Dad - jealous? Haha. It was really beautiful - the acoustics in there were brilliant. Kept going after a bit, walked outside in this little courtyard area and man it was gorgeous! I think the way the sun was when we first walked out, combined with the greenery and the architecture - it just hit me - it felt like I was in some other time and I'd stumbled on some long lost ruins from eons ago...

After we'd soaked in the awesomeness of the place for a bit longer, we took our leave and walked back to the train station via more amazingly old and gorgeous streets. We even saw a pigeon lady - like in Mary Poppins, she was under this old structure (no steps unfortunatley) and she was feeding what seemed like multitudes of pigeons! She may have just been from the local bakery, getting rid of the day's leftovers, but I like to think of her as the pigeon lady nonetheless.

Perfect timing with our train back - was at the platform waiting for us when we got there, and left 1 minute after we'd got on - and headed back to town. I stopped in at a pharmacy in the train station when we got back - a guy who worked there asked if he could help me with anything, so I said I was looking for cold & flu tablets, and he proceeded to grill me about my symptoms, at which time I got scared he thought I had swine flu & he would report me & then the govt would deport me so I downplayed it all a bit... walked away triumphant with my tablets in the end though. :)

Suzie & I decided to go to the oldest pub in London, Ye Olde Cock Tavern, that she'd heard about on her bus tour of London so we found it ok down Flint St I think it was, and ordered a sausage platter & 2 beers - mm, healthy! Was a heaps cute quaint little place - the stairs down to the toilets were so narrow! Definitely still in original condition. Left not too late to stumble home on the tube. Day 1 done.

Goodbye Zürich, Hello London!

Wednesday 3/6/09 - my last day in Zürich. I was sad to contemplate leaving - I really like Zürich, it felt like a safe, clean, friendly place I could really picture myself living in, despite it being quite expensive. But London was calling...

While I was packing up I had the TV on and what should I stumble upon but McLeod's Daughters! Dubbed into German - twas hilarious! Managed to get all my stuff back into where it was - after only 2 days it somehow was strewn all about the room! Then popped out for some brekkie - found a cute little place near the Zürich See where I once again managed to order all in German and the guy behind the counter spoke back to me in German - not that I really understood what he meant, but not the point!

Checked out of my hotel and dragged my luggage back to the airport. Got there a bit early - only about four hours or so - and discovered they don't have free internet at Zürich airport. Boo. Lucky I brought some books :)

Got through customs no problems again although they made me take my boots off for the xray machine thing - very annoying! Then it was time to board - but I couldn't see a plane anywhere around our gate; instead we boarded a bus which took us out to our plane - I guess I'm pretty new to the whole travelling thing, but that was the first time that had ever happened to me! Very bizarre. Had the whole row to myself, London's not a popular place to fly to? Haha. Had lovely last views of Zürich disappearing behind me... goodbye... Nice clear views of France all the way to the English Channel - then: clouds, clouds and more clouds. Welcome to England!

Got through immigration fine, and walked straight through customs, there wasn't even anyone there! Didn't really see a lot of Heathrow evidentally, because I thought it was really quite small! Nothing at all like in 'Love Actually' haha... must've just been my terminal. Quite a few people milling around still though, so followed them down to the Underground - my first go on the tube. Unfortunately my watch was still in Zürich time and I didn't realise it was peak hour, so caught the first tube out at 5.30 and proceeded to be on the busiest train I've ever been on, weighed down with my backpack & suitcase. Sigh. Still - I survived, even when I had to change at Kings Cross and there were no escalators - clunked my suitcase all the way down the stairs. And even when I got off at the wrong stop & had to get back on, nearly getting stuck in the thing that lets you through after you've scanned your ticket - not made for suitcases evidentally! Finally made it to Kentish Town, met by Melissa (my cousin). Yay!

Followed her home, got the tour, ate some food and collapsed. Incredibly tired! Unpacking can wait :)

Day Trip to Mt Pilatus 2/6/09

Day 2 in Zürich and I'd booked a day trip to Mt Pilatus via Luzern (Lucerne), so up bright & early again (not quite so bright & early as the previous day thank goodness!). Woke up with a killer sore neck, not sure if I slept funnily or it was just a remnant of the previous day's lugging of the suitcase, cos all my muscles were pretty sore too! In any case I sucked it up and managed to find where the buses left ok - and find a much needed coffee on the way as well :) Looked like it was going to be a beautiful day - I sat on the sunny side of the bus & was soon taking off all my layers!

Got underway around 9.30 and drove out of the city into the gorgeous picturesque Swiss countryside, adorned with typical Swiss houses & cows everywhere! Our guide was really good, very informative, not only about what we were passing but throwing in general facts about Switzerland as well. As we got closer to Luzern the mountains started appearing too - it really is something else to see snow-capped mountains looming up in the distance over green hills dotted with cows and farmhouses. Once we reached Luzern we checked out a Lion Memorial which commemorates all those who lost their lives in the world wars, and then had an hour or so free time to explore the old part of town ourselves. I wandered by myself up and down little alleyways, past market stalls, and criss-crossed across the originally-built river bridges that are still standing. Had a look at the Jesuitenkirche - absolutely beautiful inside & out. They really knew how to build and decorate churches in the day! So much detail... and gold trimmings :)



We met back at the bus and headed to the bottom of Mt Pilatus to catch a cable car to the top - I was in one with Jim & Mary, an older American couple who seemed to have been everywhere, and Eric, from Montreal. Couldn't pick his accent for ages, it's different from a typical French accent... still cool though! The view going up on the cable car was amazing. We kept hearing this clanging noise as we were ascending as well, took me a while to realise it was the cows! They actually have bells on! I seriously thought that was just a stupid stereotype we held onto, but no, it's true! So quaint! Quite annoying after a bit though - I think I would go crazy if I was a cow in Switzerland!

About 3/4 of the way up the mountain we were consumed by cloud - no more view :( We got to the summit, where there is a restaurant and shop etc, and it was quite eerie - mostly all floating cloud, with just a glimpse of the view that lay beneath. I desperately wanted the cloud to clear... for the view & the warmth - being in the clouds was very windy and cold! In the meantime we had lunch up there - I opted for a bratwurst from the kiosk - the restaurant was incredibly expensive. I managed to order completely in German, and the girl who served me answered me in German which makes me think my accent/grammar can't have been too bad! Almost got through the whole transaction when I wanted to ask for a spoon and I couldn't for the life of me remember the word! Oh well. Close.

At the end of the lunch the cloud had moved somewhat and we were able to see the view, albeit somewhat fuzzy - there were still thick clouds hanging over our heads. I decided to climb to one of the lookouts in any case and by the time I got to the top it was almost completely clear! If I squinted I could just make out snow-capped mountains through the clouds. It was just breathtaking. Photo taking ensued (naturally!). I descended again and made my way over to another lookout which took you around the other side. You had to go through part of the mountain and when I came out the other side, the cloud had almost completely cleared, below and above us. With the sun shining on the mountains surrounding, glinting off snow... it was seriously indescribable. I don't think I've ever said 'wow' so much in my life. I was totally and completely in awe. Photo frenzy once again, although the camera never captures it as accurately as what you see.


After staring at the view for as long as possible, we eventually had to go back down the mountain - via the world's steepest cogwheel railway. Of course this took us past even more breathtaking views and click went the cameras! I was sitting at the front of the carriage and it was very interesting to see how they drove the cog train - there didn't seem to be a whole lot involved, although I guess a lot of it is just making sure it doesn't slip - when you're going down a 47 degree incline, you don't want anything to go wrong! There was an old school looking speedo that hovered at around 8km/hr most of the trip down.

Just an aside, apparently Mt Pilatus has a ton of secret pathways and tunnels throughout it, created during the world wars for military reasons and to help hide people. Pretty cool!

When we got to the bottom we made our way to a boat on the lake (lake of the four cantons (states) - it has kinda four different arms to it and it's called something different in each canton - but I think we mainly travelled on the Lake Luzern arm) and sailed gently back to Luzern, absorbing the scenery around us. There's something so European about a landscape with water (a lake etc) in the foreground, with beautifully green hills and typically Swiss looking houses and cows sitting on the edge of the lake, all framed by towering white covered mountains in the background. That was the view we got basically the whole way back to Luzern. Gorgeous. Also indulged in my first European beer, bought for me by Eric - called Ur Braü, just the local brew. Very easy drinking :)

Once back in Luzern we climbed back onto the bus and I for one tried to not fall asleep on the way back to Zürich. All that thin oxygen and climbing around really takes it out of you! Arrived back around 7.30 - I wandered down to the edge of the Zürich See to have some tea and watch the sunset (only goes down about 9.30 or so). Met two guys who I tried to talk to - their English wasn't great (only one of them spoke it slightly, although they could both speak 4 languages - it's just amazing, everyone is bi- or multi-lingual) and my German leaves much to be desired so it was a lot of simple sentences and sign language. They were originally from Tunisia and thought I said I was from Israel which caused confusion for a bit when they tried to talk to me in Arabic!

Fun fact about Switzerland - the water everywhere is drinkable no matter where it is apparently - you can drink from any tap, any of the water fountains that dot the city, and people go swimming in the river in warm weather! That really freaked me out, coming from Adelaide and the Torrens! Very handy for refilling water bottles though.

Anyway twas a gorgeous sunset made the more beautiful by the clouds that had started to spit a little, so I decided to make my way (read: limp - I had walked way too much!) back to the hotel for the night. And zzz.

Introducing... Zürich!

My flight from Hong Kong got into Zürich at the bright & early time of 6am, and I managed to breeze through customs so I got into Zürich around 7.30am. It was a public holiday on Monday as well so there were bugger all people about, which suited me fine, considering I had enough trouble negotiating my way around with my hugely heavy suitcase!

Managed to find my way to my hotel eventually, after stopping every 100 meters to either take a photo of the gorgeousness that was Zürich or have a rest from pulling my suitcase. Then realised that although the website said differently, there were only stairs leading up to the hotel. Crap! So dragged my case up (thankfully it was only a small flight) and checked in - luckily my room was all ready for me so I could dump stuff immediately. Also luckily there was a lift in the actual hotel, as I was on the 5th floor. Also had a quick shower as I felt so gross after not changing for 25hrs! And discovered there was only 1 shower for the whole floor. And 1 toilet. I guess that what you get for a budget hotel... My room was quite nice though, small but clean. The hotel was a rock'n'roll themed one, with all the rooms themed around a different rock'n'roll star. Of course, I got one I'd never heard of - Marillion (who I've since googled! British rock band formed late 1970s for those playing along at home) - when down the hall there was Elton John and co. Oh well.

At 9.30 I was meeting up with Jodie, my tour guide for the day. Tenuous connection at best - Mum's workmate's niece - but good enough for me! She took me various sights around the city - down to Zürich See lookouts, a Lion Monument & then to have lunch at this awesome place where everything was laid out all fresh & you could pick what you wanted - kinda like an über-buffet thing (but you had to pay) combined with the markets. It all looked so fresh & yummy! Once sated we caught a train up to Uetliberg which looks out over all of Zürich - beautiful views! A little disappointed it was slightly cloudy so we couldn't see the snow-capped mountains in all their glory.

Caught the train back - by the way, interesting fact about Zürich, people take their dogs absoluetly everywhere (which I was fine with!) - even on the buses, trams & trains! And if the dog is big (not sure what the exact stipulations are!) they need their own ticket! How funny is that! Anyway, after that we headed up to another lookout on the other side of town near Jodie's house, and managed to see some deer at a nearby park too! So cute. Views were gorgeous again but once again the mountains were hiding from us :(

Stopped off at Jodie's house via some cows that I just had to see (for Mum's sake if nothing else!) - very odd city, it seems you're in the city one moment, surrounded by apartment buildings & trams & what not, and then the next you're out in the country and there are paddocks & hills & cows! But I think it is made even more beautiful because of this - adds to the charm of the place.

I had to leave Jodie after that cos she had some work to finish off for Tuesday (these working folk, I don't know!) so I headed back to the city and walked around a bit more on my own - discovered when the sun comes out, so do the people! Stumbled upon a park that was brimming with people playing soccer, sunbathing, reading - just generally being out in the sun. And wearing bathers / clothes not really suited to early-mid 20s weather! Well, not to me anyway. Although a year or so in the UK may change my perceptions a bit!

Crashed pretty early after finding some tea at the train station - not much was open due to the public holiday. And thus ended Day 1 in Zürich.

and so it begins...

So I've finally got a minute to sit down & write up a bit of what's been happening lately. I guess I should start at the very beginning - usually a very good place to start, or so I hear.

Sunday 31st May I set off on my trip from Adelaide, after a few hassles with luggage - how do you fit your life into 30 odd kilos? Well, I somehow managed, and off through customs etc I trundled. No problems there, although I was a bit devo to have to tip my lovely Barossa rainwater out. Stupid 100ml liquids & gels law... After shedding quite a few tears (goodbye parents! love you!) I boarded the jet to Hong Kong, red-eyed and probably looking scared as. After an hour or so stopover in Melbourne (cos their fuel is obviously superior to ours...) we were off to HK. Got through a few movies (Twilight (again... hm. Obsessed anyone?? Although I finally got to see it in non-pirated form! The sparkly skin is so much better! haha) & Yes Man) & TV shows and even a couple games of sudoko thanks to the great in flight entertainment. Another kind of entertainment occurred as well - apparently the airplane food was no good - or so a man's stomach in the row behind me thought. Ick. On the upside, the crew made a call for any doctors on board to make themselves known. Our flight was quite the popular one with doctors it seemed as about 10 showed up! One big typical Australian guy took over and asked for the medical box with his loud booming voice, which they then opened in the seat next to mine (vacated by my neighbour for a bit) so I got to see them prepare the anti-nausea injection they gave him. Twas quite exciting! Also got to pretend I was concerned about swine flu and wear a face mask for much of the rest of the flight - I'm not (concerned that is) - it just smelt really bad around our seats. Nice huh.

Anywho 12 or so hours later we arrived in Hong Kong & I found my way to the next terminal where I boarded for Zurich. Got a window seat on this flight which I was happy about - makes it so much easier to sleep. Watched another couple movies (Confessions of a Shopaholic and Happy Feet) inbetween sleeping. Woke up again as we were passing over Russia, although couldn't see too much of the countryside, was a bit cloudy. Kept up a vigil at the window though until we reached Switzerland - then WOW. To see the mountains appear, cloaked in snow - it was just spectacular. Took stacks of photos of course but it never does what you're actually seeing justice.

And so I arrived in Zurich.