http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Linden/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Linden en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:32:46 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:32:46 BST Buon giorno sole aqua... accende i miei sogniI have been feeling in the last couple of weeks that time is running out. So many things not done and my time in Europe is drawing to a close. In a couple of months I'll be home wondering what to do with myself....Anyway one of the things I always wanted to do is catch a last minute flight to anywhere for a long weekend. Well as it happened an oppo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Sabaudia/blog-303559.html Isle of White hairSo I stayed with Nics for 4 or 5 days on the Isle as I was missing her terribly and thought it would be relaxingNics is based in Yarmouth quite possibly as far from the touristy part as you can get. Very small and a good 20 minute drive to the nearest high street stores in Newport. Its quiet... too quiet. As soon as I got there I was lulled into a state of sleepiness and l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Isle-of-Wight/blog-301824.html First an updateSo as of a week ago I am officially unemployed again. Yes I've had enough of working 7 days a week and called it quits so now it's back to fun relaxing and doing whatever I want.So of course I went to Ibiza for a few days...Ibiza beautiful people clubs the beach and that's pretty much itThere is only one reason for going to Ibiza partying. If you want to do relaxing there http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Balearic-Islands/Ibiza/blog-298507.html Having just been in Bath I had high hopes for Dublin it was my first trip to the Republic of Ireland and I was curious to see what it was like.I was a bit disappointed it's probably the least impressive capital city in Western Europe. The transfer into the city revealed a capital that looked more Eastern European very grey lots of traffic not pretty at all. I was staying in the Temple B http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-279068.html Boring name pretty cityI had heard from other English people that Bath was pretty but I found out that it's actually REALLY pretty in an English kinda wayMondayHaving arrived in Bath by train the night before I was up bright and early on monday to explore. First stop priorities was the Thermae spa to book a massage treatment I was lucky there was only one spot available at 5.30pm s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Somerset/Bath/blog-279066.html For the last year I have based myself in Elephant and Castle. Whenever I tell people where I am from they always gasp and say 'Elephant and Castle Aren't you scared of getting stabbed'But I have never felt scared here there are tonnes of people around well lit roads and I have never had a problem.Until now.Just an hour ago I was mugged. I have been pickpocketed in clubs before but bein http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Elephant-and-Castle/blog-263407.html Hi everyoneWell a few things have happened since I last posted so here they are with picsNew flatThats right I'm not at the hostel any more After St Patricks Day I was fed up with noise and living above a bar and hostel life and living out of a bag. So on Tuesday I searched for a flat on the net found the perfect one and organised to visit it. On Wednesday I paid my deposit and on Fr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Elephant-and-Castle/blog-259414.html Back in LondonHi all I have made it back in one piece as of last Wednesday and have divided my time into a recovering from the inevitable jetlag and b running round like a madman getting set up in this city again.But the running around paid off I had a job interview with the same care agency Nicola works for on Thursday. They did reference and police checks and by Friday I was called back wi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Hammersmith/blog-249795.html And so the holiday back at home is coming to a close and I thought I would reflect on what I've been up to in terms of dance. Dancing is a great passion of mine probably the only thing I would do every day without fail even if it's only in front of the bathroom mirror So here's a step by step summary of my highlights back in AucklandPartying in Auckland CityThe clubbing scene in Auckland h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/South-Auckland/blog-245332.html The week at the resort was just what the doctor ordered. After months 2.5 months of working I finally got some time to chill with Nics without having the strains of work or bad weather ruining our fun. Apart from a couple of visits we haven't seen each other much since she started work in Winchester so it's been a while since the wild months of partying last summer.And fun it was The sun http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Canary-Islands/Lanzarote/blog-240184.html Prspero ao nuevoI had two New Year's celebrations this year at 11am I celebrated New Zealand New Year with 5 people in my office just because we could. So the champagne was flowing a bit early.We all left work at 2pm and I got ready for the big night. Even put on a bit of makeupI spent the first half of the evening with Phil and Christine my kiwi friends from the Europe tour. They ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-232844.html Blue sky.Sun.Deep shadows and brilliant colour.Being home is everything I hoped for. London is a silvery grey memory and I have been visiting family and friends in Gisborne and Auckland. It was a relatively quick visit to the East Coast and I was pretty jetlagged for most of it but still got time to see aunts uncles cousins and grandparents. And of course the traditional eating of yummy http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Gisborne/blog-232007.html Merry Christmas and a happy New Year I know this is a bit late but I have had a great week and wanted to share my triumphs and fun with you all.I'm a star Just call me AliceAPACS is a great place to be in December. The last few weeks have been a blur of preparation anticipation and rehearsal as I learned all my lines for my starring role in the highlight of the Christmas Party the APACS Pa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Hampshire/Southampton/blog-230765.html Hi allOK time to catch you up on developments over the last couple of weeks. I went to stay with Nics for a day as I'd missed her HEAPS over the last couple of months. We've already started our next plans more on that in a minute.I got my old job back at APACS so I've got one part of my life that's still familiar. Same workmates same desk same routines.Everything else is different.I got a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Elephant-and-Castle/blog-216768.html Sex drugs and more bicycles than I've ever seen before in my life Amsterdam has it all. I have to say that my days in Amsterdam were pretty sedate. On arrival we went straight to a cheese and clogs factory and saw how both were done. The cheese tasted good but unlike Ximena I did not get the urge to buy my very own pair of clogs. Wooden shoes are just too weird.After a very quick shower a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-216631.html I'm sorry for continuing to make references to Eurotrip but the scene when the German guy is talking about his crime in Berlin always has me in stitches That is right before he takes them to to Bratislava and as we all now know it's not as bad as the movie makes out.We arrived in the afternoon did a quick bus tour of the city including the remaining portion of the Berlin Wall and the Reichs http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-216367.html Exciting The prospect of seeing my two exflatmates was wonderful like seeing familyPeter and Pauline are actually from Lodz a city about 2 hours from Warsaw but they drove in for the day to see me I felt so specialAs it turned out Pauline polish name Pola had everything all planned out so once I met them at the appointed tube station we started our sightseeing togetherCemetryThe o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Masovia/Warsaw/blog-215896.html Unlike most of our previous tourist attractions you don't go to Auschwitz Concentration Camp to be entertained. You go to try and understand the enormity of what happened to so many political prisoners mostly Jewish held in concentration camps in Germany and Poland.I still don't understand how people could be part of this kind of industrialscale murder but it's not just numbers to me any mor http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Auschwitz/blog-215891.html Not only was it a very long drive with very bad traffic but I had to wear the yellow 'I did something stupid' hat along with fellow passenger Phillipa due to our party shenanigans in Prague. Totally worth it.When we finally arrived at our accommodation in Krakow it was dark and cold. Luckily we had nice dorm rooms but the cook tent still had to be set up outside and once dinner was ready we a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-215810.html TrafficWe could tell we were heading back to civilisation because the traffic into Prague was pretty bad. The bus was at a standstill for a minute or so at a time and we had fun throwing things at each other. At one point Benny the bus driver even parked the bus ran out the door ran around the bus got back in and was in plenty of time to put the bus back into drive and move forward. We wer http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-212869.html