Dear Diary,
I havent written in you for a very long time, and feel very bad for doing so. It has been such a whirlwind journey for me so far, and have been finding it hard to sit down and actually write. At the moment, I am sitting in a cibercafe (internet cafe) in San Sebastian in Spain. I am surrounded by a whole heap of guys playing quake or some other game, maybe counterstrike. It is very noisy they keep screaming obscenities at each other in Spanish - quite funny. Mick has gone somewhere to get something, and yes. I am here. Also french keyboards are a little less to be desired (all the letters are in different places... aaargh!!)
London was absolutely awesome. Loved catching up with Linda and Lauren - it had been way too long. I am looking forward to getting back there in Feb where I will have more time to catch up with them. We had a crazy Friday night out. I thought I was going to die Saturday morning, and am surprised we survived the Saturday night out at Jongluers (comedy club). Also, cannot wait to go through Camden again, Linda and I had a pretty boozy night there, was so much fun, and got to see an awesome band - The Airborne Toxic Event, a really good mix of old school Killers versus the Rakes. Went to the Tower of London on Thursday, which was very cool. I got to see the crown jewels and lots of armour and stuff. I have decided that I love London, but not when it is wet. We left Monday just gone and drove to Dover, where we jumped on a ferry to Calais in France.
Drove our way down the west of France. One thing I have noticed about driving through the French countryside - is that its like driving through a Devondale advertisement. The grass is green, and the cows are fat. No shit, they are fat as!!!! Spent a couple of nights in Hossegor. Famous surfing town, absolutely gorgeous. Mick got to go surfing, and I got to ride the mountain bike (free with our car - score) all around the joint. Have been jogging with Mick a bit too (so I can eat more cheese ha ha ha). The more I stayed there, the more I fell in love with the place. I have fallen in love with French architecture, and that they have the best cheese I have ever eaten. YUMMMMM!!!! The van trip has been fun so far. So cool just to be able to pull up somewhere and sleep. We kitted the car out so that it is comfy as! Nice bed, gas cooker Spent about 1600 pounds on the thing, so hopefully we can get some of our money back. We will, we will be back in London mid Feb (just before the summer van trippers take off).
Would love to write more about Indo, but I think I am a bit jaded at the moment. Dont get me wrong, Indo is beautiful, but I think after awhile it all starts to wear you down a bit. It makes me sad as it is a country that has all the resources to be such a wealthy, well educated, awesome country, but thrives on being third world as a means of getting by - harsh I know, but it seems to me, its just easier to get a hand out, than try and do something about it... Beautiful country though. Absolutely beautiful.
Anyways, I am in San Sebastian, Spain now, its been about 3 hours, and have had the most beautiful bocata (sandwich). Am going to go exploring - maybe get out of the city a bit.. its a bit full on here - I think because Hossegor was so laid back and small... where San Sebastian is a full on city. So strange though. The waves are in the middle of the city. So spun out. Anyways. I hope it gets a bit warmer so that I can go in the water. Its 12 degrees out there at the moment... eeeek!!
Much love to my friends and family back home. A big congratulations to Nae and Shane on their new arrival, and a big big big congratulations to my cousin Nicole who got married last week. I wish I could have been there, it would have been beautiful, I was thinking about you guys all the same. Big hugs and kisses and love to you all. I hope you are all well and happy.
Will write more soon,
Monks xx
Part of trip:
Europe and Morocco