Over 700 acts, over 80 stages. 177,000 people over 3 days of entertainment. We stayed 5 nights. 300 tonnes of recyclable waste and 110 tonnes of other waste removed from the site. Tickets sold out in 1 hour and 45 minutes. We got ours in the second round thanks to Bec and Shaun sitting on the phone in London. I dont know how much rain. Between 3-10 centimetres of mud in varying consistencies on 900 acres of cattle grazing land in Pilton, England. 2 pairs of gumboots and 5 pairs of socks. 1 warm apple cider and disgustingly delicious Yorkshire Pudding. A stack of strangers out to have a good time. The Killers, Mika, Lily Allen, The Who, Pete Doherty, The Cat Empire, Arcade Fire, James Morrison, Shirley Bassey, The View, The Fratellis, Amy Winehouse, ... read more

In the fairytale surrounds of southern Germany, castles dotting the landscape amidst rolling hillsides of vineyards pointing towards the languidly looping Rhine, two beautiful maidens Cherida and Amy, met their kind and generous friend Dirk. A tour of the lovely town of Bingen was had, with spectacular sunset views and a scary dark tower (turm) where the tears of many a long tressed maiden could still be heard hitting the concrete floor. The trio shared a traditional German supper of bread, meat and cheese and told tales of past travels, enjoying the challenge of conversing in each others languages. Friday dawned and Dirk, the wunderbar tour guide, led the maidens through his sehr schon homeland. They explored the charming town of Bacharach, with its cobblestoned lanes and ancient houses cheerfully lopsided. They rambled over the remains ... read more

I always knew I had it in me, and have had plenty of oppurtunity to practise on our travels (Hyde Park, Mirabell Gardens, Schonnbrunn Palace...), but in Budapest I have perfected the art of sitting and watching the world go by. Often I have a book with me, other times, its just my I-pod, but there is never a shortage of people to watch. I sat in a Square, and some Budapestian locals, maybe on their lunch break, dressed in dark suits (one crushed velvet!), sunnies on, ties slung over their shoulders stroll into the square with half a dozen long necks (obviously containing Hungary's finest) and two big bags of chips. They flip the top off their bottles and perform a strange 'cheersing' ceremony, the bottles are clinked multiple times from top to bottom,slowly ... read more

Champions One of the funniest and most memorable times in Poland was when Marios parents picked us up from the train station (we were so relieved to see them coz we didnt know where we were and werent sure theyd got the message). They took us to their house and fed us and then on the way to Marios apartment (before stopping so Marios Dad could by us beer!!! and sausages) we were listening to the radio and good old Queen came on. Marios parents dont speak English, and obviously we dont speak Polish, but 'We are the Champions' is apparently international language. There was one perfectly harmonised moment when Freddie was singing and everyone in the car joined in... it didnt last long coz Cherida and I dissolved into giggles. I will never listen ... read more

Amsterdam is an overwhelming, amazing city, with so much happening at once that its hard to catch a breath. The saying 'anything goes' certainly applies here, and it results in an absolute bizarre mix of cuilture and people. This was certainly higlighted when we did Randy Roys Red Light Tour- along with a mother and her two -20 year old sons, a young couple and a photographer from Canada. At one stage of the tour I was standing in the doorway of a child care centre, looking at a big old church, right nothing too funny about that. BUT! if i faced the other way i was looking directly into a window at the start of the African Corner, red lights blaring and skantily clad women opening and closing their doors hoping to entice a ... read more