Blogs from Europe - page 13879

So after leaving the amazing city of Paris. We drove along to Fountainbleau, and to see one of the many palaces made famous during Napolean's reign. It was set amongst some amazing gardens and was a great way to start the day. We then made our way through the central part of France, before reaching our destination, an old chateau for 2 more nights accommodation. It is set in the Beaujolais wine region, just outisde of Lyon, and we arrived to some great views of the vineyards that surround the area. We started with some wine tasting of the local produce, before dinner, which I helped prepared this time .... and it was actually made pretty fun! Our first night saw a beach theme party, so out came the boardies and zinc cream set on the ... read more

Our pilgrimage to Poland ended with a trip to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Europe’s most famous shrine. The shrine gets its fame from the icon of the Black Madonna which has been the source of numerous miracles. The origin of the icon is unknown but one legend says that Saint Luke the Evangelist painted the portrait on a table made by Jesus himself. Saint Helena discovered the image while in Jerusalem searching for the Holy Cross and took it home to Constantinople where it would remain for the next five hundred years. In 803 the image was given to a Greek princess as a wedding gift. The bride placed it in the royal palace at Belz where it remained for about six hundred years. In the fourteenth century the city where the image ... read more

I went to sleep last night dreading having caught some nasty Russian 'flu, so I was relieved to have woken up with just a headache and a runny nose. I got up late for a Russian fry-up - thankfully I can't taste anything - then Tamara Aleksandrovna insisted I went back to bed until half past one. I watched Goodbye Lenin on my laptop, sent some Russian texts and re-read my vocab book. When she allowed me to get up again I had to wear my woolly hat around the flat. Even though my cold isn't serious I still miss the creature comforts you can have when you're ill in England - even getting some water to drink meant walking to the supermarket to buy some - and when you're not thinking clearly even the smallest ... read more

It started just like any other day........ The Great Gorilla Run is a 7km fun run around the centre of London in a full length gorilla suit organised by the Dian Fossey Fund. If you remember the film 'Gorillas In The Mist'. Well Dian Fossey, who the movie is based around started this organisation. I discovered this run in an Aussie magazine (TNT) and signed up immediatley!! Surprisingly I couldnt convince anyone (including Justin) to do it with me, so I did it by myself with Meagan Kelly as my cheersquad. Not only did you have to run around the centre of London in a gorilla suit, as if that wasnt enough, you had to dress up your gorilla in costume. There were cowboy gorillas, viking gorillas, ballerina gorillas, hawiian gorillas, santa gorillas, football gorillas, kiwi ... read more

Time seems to move so slowly here (not complaining…I like it), and yet, as I look back at the week, it already feels like so long ago… Last Saturday was La Notte Bianca - “White Night” - where museums and restaurants and shops stay open all night and there are all kinds of concerts and other performances going on in the streets. It’s basically a time when the three million people who live in Rome, plus all the tourists, are out all night. Brent, Nathan, Brandi and I met up with the humanities students to go out. It started raining, but we went out anyway. The rain only seemed to make the city more crowded - everyone all dressed up, carrying umbrellas, ducking into shops and pubs. But it was pretty cool that a little rain ... read more