Day 8 - Already?

First week of my 5 week trip has been and gone. It's been a terrific start. After Zagreb I took the bus into Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. There at 5pm I was met by Matjaz's friend Pajk who was a fantastic tour guide. This guy is like an encyclopaedia on almost everything. He had just finished up at a student demonstration at the main square so he was in good spirits as the event went well. They were fighting against student fees (an universal issue) as well as other topics, but the fees were the main focus point. After a quick dinner with him and his flatmates (hi Miriyam & Ivan) we went to an outdoor party held near the student dorms. The party and concert finished up and we were all suitably drunk and merry. A Slovene drink I've discovered is bambous, not sure of spelling but it means bamboo. It's red wine with coke. So let us continue. You thought that was it? No, there was more partying to be had as it was Wednesday student night. It was around 3am when the local nightclub had an injection of heavy sweaty young bods. By the time we crawled into bed I believe it was around 5am...

The next day I was left to my own devises and I explored the city of Ljubljana. It's a small city, but pretty. All the people I'd met were friendly. After a long day I cooked dinner for Miriyam and Ivan, who took me out for a drink afterwards. We had a great time chatting at a bar by the river, where an English guy at the bar thought I sounded English! I'm sorry for losing my Australian twang. For our final drinks we went to an alternative, squatter/commune type place. Don't have the name on hand but it's in my Lonely Planet. We practically had one of the bars to ourselves and the more we enjoyed ourselves the more like home it felt. Again another late night as I fell into bed around 4am...

Friday arrived and I was out of the flat late morning. I only managed to pack my bag, check out the Croatian Tourist Information Centre and also the markets for some fresh fruit before meeting up with Pajk. He was giving me a lift to Matjaz who was in Nova Gorica, but was heading to the coast for a film festival. Nova Gorica is only an hour or two awaya, but Pajk had planned a 6hr power tour. We drove north west to Lake Bled, a beautiful holiday spot (mainly for elderly Austrians). Then we drove further north towards the Austrian border then continue down south west through the Alps to Nova Gorica. The day was just magical. The mountains were lush and green and you can tell it's a great spot for doing healthy outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, canoening, skiing and para-gliding. By the time we arrived in Nova Gorica it was already 10.30pm. We did travel at a leisurely pace but I didn't expect to arrive so late. Pajk was great company so it was hardly noticed. We drove a little further to the seaside town of Izola on the Istrian coast. Matjaz was already therefor the film festival and here the handover of Tina T took place. Thank you Pajk for your hospitality and history and political lessons.

For the next two days my base was a camp by the water in little Izola. The village has distinct Italian influences due to its location. In fact coming from Nova Gorica we drove into Italy to get onto the highway to get down to Izola. This area has often been called north Mediterranean due to the weather. For two days I did nothing but enjoy the sun and the company of Matjaz's friends. It was so nice to unwind and feel as if I've been away from London for ever. Sunday dinner was the best. A meal of yabbie-type crustacean on linguine, 8 portions served on two huge platters, with large bowls of salad. White wine was served, followed by coffee and homemade spirits. I couldn't be happier. After dinner it was time to say goodbye to most of the group and I was dropped off in Koper, another small town with better transport connections. I stayed overnight and now I am in Trieste, Italy, a bigger town with even better transport connections. I'm heading down to Rijeka, Croatia tonight and from there the rest of the Croatian coast and beyond.

Ciao Slovenia, and big thank you to Matjaz for looking after me.

See the rest of you in Hrvatska (Croatia).

Day 3 - So Far So Good

Bloody rain. After two great days the rain caught up with me. It was hard to get out of bed and spend my last hours in Zagreb productively. In the end I did manage to get to the Museum of Modern Art which held some really great works. It was then time to go to the bus station.

2.5hrs and a new stamp later I was in Ljubljana, Slovenia! Planning to stay till the end of the week in Slovenia, with Michelle's friend Matjaz as host. The brilliantness of the situation continues to unfold today as Matjaz has organised co-hosts and helped organised my Slovenian itinery. Tonight I will be seeing a bit of Ljubljana night life and tomorrow will be a city tour of my own design. Hopefully the weather will be back to normal - give me some sun!


Ljubliana by night (1) and (2)

Ljubliana by day (1) and (2)

Day 1 - Here We Go

Flying out of grey and raining London was not the hardest thing to do in the world. Especially when I end up in a place like Zagreb! Arrived Monday in hot soup, I'm sure it was up to high 20s or even low 30s. Went straight to my hostel which was a little tram ride way away and discovered it was next door to Kraš Chocolate Factory! Imagine the smell of chocolate in the air. Mmmm...

First thing I did, the obligatory post card to mum and dad. Once that was out of the way it was time to look around. Not a huge city, Zagreb has a population of 800,000. Plus outskirts of city population goes up to 1.1 million. Lovely views from the top of the hill, which was where Zagreb grew from. At midday each day a cannon goes off from the old watch tower. It was near this watch tower that I found a nice tree lined path I dubbed "lovers lane". On the hill it was breezy, perfect spot for couples to sit and cuddle in the shade of the coolibah tree (not really coolibah, just my interpretation). So I thought it would be nice for me to have a sit as well, and spotted some steps leading a little down the hill. Quiet secluded spot for me to relax a bit. As I took a few steps and turn a corner, I find a couple had thought the same thing as the girl was just about to go down on her guy. It was a Monday for crying out loud, why aren't these people at work or school? Perhaps it was the heat of the afternoon...

Today was a very chilled out day, I've done nothing cept browse the shops, long lunch on the balcony of the hostel, a quick trip to the Baroque cemetary and finish with a lovely pasta meal for dinner. I am in holiday mode and loving it.

Stay in London...
or go to Zagreb?

Weekend 0!!!!!! BYE LONDON!!!!!!

Had final drinks with friends on Friday 19th. The 3 girls I've become close to and I are all leaving around the same time so we had one big bash to say goodbye to all our friends in London, and of course, London herself.


Sam, Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda.

Bye bye, see you in Eastern Europe!

Short but Sweet

Monday 15th May 2006, 6:40am. Fly to Dusseldorf, Germany for last fling with Western Europe.




Monday 15th May, 10:05pm. Fly back to London happy after meeting internet friend Caroline who showed me round on bike.

You Know I've got It

So here are a few more faces from my leaving drinks:


Top: Simon - he may be quiet and he may sound slow, but he's got a heart of gold. Luv ya Si!
Bottom: GRRRLs - Cindy, Claudine, Di and Mish - I'm passing the torch to these crazy girls, London watch out!


Top: Corrinne - my Gumtree friend! We got here at the same time and now, leaving at the same time. See you in Melbourne in 2008!
Bottom: Oops, don't remember doing that!


Random guy - as it turns out he's a photographer for tilllate.com and we've made it onto their UK website. Proof forever that I've been toLondon!

http://uk.tilllate.com/tnpage.php?page=2&tim_orgid=0&mode=none&gid=335320&grid=0&chartmode=0&myalbumuid=0

It has a been a great two years. What more can I say cept missing you all already...

All Night Long (One More Time)

Left: Jimbo, my first friend from the first leaving do I attended on my first week at work, and now, at my last leaving do at my last week at work.
Right: Heather - coolest rock chick I know. Will miss your Northen accent (but not your jibberish :); Sally - awesome manager who kicks butt. Sorry to love and leave you will keep in touch!; Lou - follow me to Canada!


Left: Bookings Boys Del and Rich, my very own Brokeback Mountain (loved the film btw); Right: (L-R, top-bottom) Tricky, Lou, Will, Stocky, Del, Chris, Ant - ex and current VT crew. Hope to see you all again some day.

The Weekend before The Last. T'was my work leaving do on Friday night and it was a exuberant affair with many of my colleagues and friends. We drank and we were merry and despite me having a horrific cold I still had a wicked time. The monster hungover and foggy memory the next day proved it.


Damo and my flatmate Mike looking like he's speaking from his heart - I'd like to think they're discussing who'd be the better man for me. Who wins?

There are more photos which I'm having problems uploading at the moment. Come back soon to see if I manage to in the end.

It was a also real treat to realise I'd forgot the real estate agent was coming over to show the flat the next day. Imagine his surprised (and my red) face when he opened the door to find a tragic girl in bed looking worse for wear, smelling of alcohol and cough medicine, surrounded by snotty tissues. There was no way I could leave my bed I was feeling so ill. The poor estate agent had to carry on showing the flat throughout the day with me as the final attraction. To my landlord, sorry for bringing down your sales price!

Water in the Hole

How could I forget to include two very important photos from the weekend?

These are not professional food photography, but my lunch on the left and Corrinne's lunch on the right. Classy food, classy photography. Our Corrinne's becoming quite a little shutter bug!

The Culture that I Gots

Because the Keukenhof Special was quite large, I'll be sharing a couple more things in this second edition of Weekend 2 in the Netherlands. Yep, I'm still counting down.

On Sunday Corrinne and I trudled down to Rotterdam with the express interest of seeing the Cube Houses. Built in the 70s, they were an antidote to grey and lifeless cities. Best intentions as they say. Oh look who's that peering through the windows?


Retro Cubism; Ernie! Ernie!

But that's not it, we also made our way to the National Architecture Institute, which was opposite the Museum of Modern Art. There's me below with an example of such work at the entrance of the museum. Hmmm bear....

Having an extra day off also meant I could return to Amsterdam and culturalise myself further with a visit to the Van Gogh Museum and the National Museum where sublime works by Rembrandt and Vermeer were on display. Just divine.


Stuff of nightmares - have you seen Akira?;

The Milkman c.1658-1661oil on canvas by Johanne Vermeer

I bet you're all expecting me to now write about the other attractions Amsterdam had to offer. But you'll be wrong. This is what Amsterdam (and Rotterdam) was to me and this is my blog so this is what you'll get. Should you have any queries, suggestions or criticisms please don't hesitate to leave a Comment, and send £1 for postage and handling. Thank you.

Live from Keukenhof

It was pretty special to be at Keukenhof, the tulip gardens in the Netherlands. It was coming to the end of the season but you'll never guess from these photos. The sun and the flowers made for a great start to my three day weekend.

The tour took 5 hrs. That may sound excessive, but the gardens are so big and with so many photo opps it was just about right. This of course includes an obligatory cat nap on the grass.

Should I Take My Hairstraightener?

Getting really close to the end of my stay in London, slightly unreal and at the same time a little daunting, again. The butterflies are setting in a tiny bit. The fears of solo travelling: will I have enough time? Will I have enough money? What do I do if I get into trouble? I don't speak the language! How much money should I carry? How do I carry a billion different currencies? Will I forget to pack anything? What do I pack? What if I get lost? What if I get robbed? ...Should I take my hairstraightener with me (oh my secret to smooth silky hair is out - no more lies!)?

We had another long weekend (lovely) and I thoroughly enjoyed being home doing nothing, which is quite a nice change from my recent spate of activities. I did however, have yum cha on Sunday with my cousin Janey, her husband Pete, their gorgeous baby girl Gina, our mutual friend Hung and his girlfriend Yvette. See the trend? No? Well let me spell it out - C O U P L E S. I hate to admit it, but I am starting to obsess over my lack of couplehood status. It seems everyone around me is hooking up and getting hitched. Where's mine?? What's the hold up?? Everyone's getting cake and eating it, I ain't even gettin' coffee!

But honestly though I know it's still not my time. I got trips to plan and rest of North America to see. There's little chance of settling down at this point in time as I've just got too much to do for myself. Very soon I'll be flirting the sunny coast of Croatia, engaging with the cities of Bosnia and ravishing the beauty of Prague. Sure I'll be all by myself, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of fellow travellers to share our woes with. Perhaps I will take my hairstraightener with me after all...