Blogs from Hackney Central, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Question - What do vibrant markets, colourful graffiti and alternative-types have in common?? Answer - East London. Specifically, Shoreditch and Spitafields. We spent last Sunday discovering the answer to this first hand on a day out in our neighbouring East London areas. We walked from our place through colourful backstreets to reach Brick Lane. We found many a market place to visit, with everything from bright vintage clothing to fragrant world foods. We ventured to Spitafields market and escaped the freezing cold with some spicy mexican for lunch. We were on a tight schedule to make it to Kick Sports Bar by 4pm to see the Arsenal v Manchester City game. What a great atmosphere! Then we polished off a great day with a visit to a local pub to hear some live piano. What a ... read more

The rest of that day was almost literally spent crying. I packed up my room into two large suitcases, 3 large tote bags and a backpack. That night Ben invited Dakin, Oscar and I to his sister’s house in Clapham for a BBQ. We all helped him bring his things to her house, and then watched football in a back room of his sisters house. It may have been fun to be there a few days earlier, but it ended up just being pretty depressing. All of us knew that we were going to have to say goodbye to Ben soon. When it finally was time to say goodbye, it was very depressing. Dakin and I were bawling as we rode home on the tube. Oscar must have been very embarrassed. That night Oscar, Dakin and ... read more

Hello all! Well this time next week all being well I shall be in Italia. I would be lying if I said I'm not absolutely terrified and starting to wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Oh well guess there's no going back now, but I am also super excited to see what's going to happen! Finished work at the gym yesterday and was really sad to say goodbye to everyone. Had an awesome send off though (including a stripper from Rome) and was a really good night (not including my journey home where our bus was terminated due to a crazy gunman running around Stamford Hill!). Looking forward to my party tomorrow, where I'll say goodbye to my friends and family again, although I've developed a little cold/cough, but not going to let it ruin ... read more

Well another week has passed and I'm starting to feel a bit more anxious now. Still waiting for 'the fear' to hit me though, the point when I'll have that 'what am I doing' moment. Only 3 shifts left at work now, and I've already said good bye to 2 of my clients, so it's starting to feel real now although I still don't believe this is actually happening! I have a feeling next week's going to be very emotional as with the end of work, come the end of work drinks. Plus I have my official leaving party next Sunday, so expecting there to be a lot of tears (will have the tissues at the ready)! Got to do my online check-in tomorrow and my case is 7kg over weight as I misread the booking ... read more

Ciao! Just under 3 weeks to go now and I can't wait! I had a skype interview this week for a job that starts in September, after this first one finishes, so fingers crossed! And my Thomas Cook card finally arrived!! Phoned the Inland Revenue and Student Loan Company this week, to let them know I'm moving abroad, and it turns out they don't write your student loan off if you live abroad for a certain amount of time. Instead I have to fill in loads of forms for both companies, so thinking it might be easier to fake my own death?! Only got 8 shifts left at work, so spending the next couple of weeks trying to see as many people as possible to say good bye. Anyway still got to learn as much Italian ... read more

Hello all! Just under 4 weeks to go now! Booked my weekend in Rome at the end of May to celebrate my 25th birthday (going to be a 1/4 of a century!!), including a one day trip to Pompeii. Looking forward to that, although coordinating flights with my friend who is travelling in from London to meet me in Rome was a major hassle. Also discovered the joys of vacuuming packing this week as I was seriously running out of space in my case till Sau helped me move everything about, might be slightly over the weight limit but you can't win them all! Still waiting for my Thomas Cook travel money card to arrive, I hope it hasn't got lost in the post! Anyway so much still left to do, so I'm going to go ... read more

Hello lovers, Been busy this week checking off my 'things to do before I go' list! Managed to get my insurance sorted finally and I've ordered my Thomas Cook travel money card (because apparently Traveller's cheques are sooooo last year)! Also had to order a new bank card from HSBC because my current one expires in October and I definitely plan to still be in Italy then. Started my packing yesterday as I have paid to take 2 bags with me, a 70 litre back pack and a big suitcase. Starting to panic a bit as both are almost full and I've still got stuff left to pack! Think I might have to vacuum pack my clothes, but worried they might explode on the plane?! (If anyone has any advice on this please let me know). ... read more

Hello people of the world! Finally I have some news to report... I HAVE A JOB! It is in Turin, which is North Italy and on one side you have the mountains and on the other side you have the beach. So I best start stocking up on bikinis and ski boots! I have also booked my flight, leaving on the 5th May at 7.10 am, my mum's going to love having to get up at 3 am to drive me to the airport. My flight number is 464 if anyone wants enbark in a last minute frantic chase to the airport and declare their love for me (don't all rush at once)... The family seem really nice (and I should know I spoke to a lot of psycho mum's in the process), there are 3 ... read more