lexidupa

Still to come :) (can't publish anything until after I've submitted my report to Cruise Guru) ** UPDATE! So the competition is now done and dusted and guess what... I WON! Here's the link to the website with my photos, report and video: https://www.facebook.com/CruiseGuruAU#!/CruiseGuruAU/app_162383900546472 Here is a copy of my report: I’ll tell you why - it’s simple: luxury, all-inclusive meals, entertainment and easy travel all rolled up into a boat worthy of Mordor. Cruising really is for all ages: at 16, I cruised the Pacific on P&O’s Pacific Sun.At 21, I circumnavigated New Zealand on the Sun Princess. Now, at 26, I’ve cruised the Hawaiian Islands, ventured across the Pacific Ocean to Ensenada and then up to San Diego on the ‘Carnival Spirit’ as a... read more

Next stop, Glasgow. A neat train ride from Edinburgh had us arrive in Glasgow early in the morning with only a day to explore the city's delights. There's a lot of hype about Glasgow, I've heard people refer to it as the 'Melbourne' of Scotland. I can't say we have really felt these vibes. Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty and we did a fair bit of exploring in our stunted allocation of time here, but I don't get the glamour, the excitement. This morning we had a leisurely stroll around Alexandra Park (yes, with our backpacks strapped to our shoulders... slightly painful) and then checked out the Botanical Gardens. This, I do admit, was quite fascinating and I'd say we spent a few good hours roaming the halls and rooms checking out all the ... read more

After a most epic flight from Sydney through to London via Taipei (28 hours!), I arrived at Heathrow where Shawn was waiting for me with my Oyster card. We hopped on the tube and headed straight back to Islington and to a pub for a well deserved pint of cider. We listened to a live jazz band and chilled into the night. I was quite taken aback by the daylight hours, it doesn't get dark until 10pm here in summer! Stark contrast to winter in London. We're staying with Ed and Sue who rent a gorgeous little flat in a really nice part of town. It only takes 40 minutes to walk into the centre of London from here, has several nearby tube stations, is leafy and reasonably quiet and has access to a trendy stretch ... read more

When they say that Paris is the City of Light, they really do mean it. I spent 4 beautiful days in Paris and feel like I´ve only just scratched the surface of this place. As you have probably noticed by my lack of blogging, I packed in as much as was humanely possible. Not time for rest or relaxation! So Day 2 in Paris: Made a pilgrimage to the Père Lachaise Cemetery to visit the graves of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. Headed to Montmartre and checked out the Basilisca on top of the hill, the artists´square and then had a traditional French meal (including escargots and boef bourginon). We headed back down the hill (I´d say mountain) to the Moulin Rouge which was bloody expensive so we flagged going in. From here we went to ... read more

Today was officially the last day on the Topdeck tour for all of us. As a final treat, we got to head into the fairytale land of Bruges (or Brugge as the locals call it). This was well worth the drive, we walked down stunning streets with very medieval architecture that wound down and around until we hit the town square. It was seriously like standing in Cinderella, in each corner of the Markt square stood a highly decorated building. There were a few places I recognised from 'In Bruges', the bell tower and the canals etc which was super cool and exciting. So we ended up looking around a few shops, searched for the Tin Tin shop but to no avail, apparently it doesn't exist anymore. Oh well. So it was cute, really cute, and ... read more