Great Rules of Writing

I stumbled across this whilst doing some research for a lesson I was teaching one of my classes and have determined that this is a gem of wisdome that simply must be shared!

Great Rules of Writing (By William Safire)

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

A New Kind of Adventure

It has been three weeks since I returned to Australia from my globetrotting ventures. I feel like I traded one whirlwind for another and I have spent the last three weeks starting out in my new career as a teacher. Although it's been quite a roller coaster (yes, there have been tears...) I am now enjoying one perk of my new job-the school holidays! The last three weeks have flown by, with each day dictated by the ringing of a bell with short moments of calm as I enjoy a cup of tea using one of my Twinings tea bags from London. It certainly has been challenging and life as a teacher is quite a contrast to life as a student! I am very glad of having these holidays to try to catch up with where life has taken me. Of course, I have a pile as high as Jack's Beanstalk of preparation and lesson planning to do as well as a room full of things that need to be sorted out and tidied up. Some BBC period dramas are also in order-I've already watched 'Persuasion', 'Emma' and 'Wives and Daughters'. It will be nice to have a break from the seating plans, marking and reporting, meetings, phone calls and chaos that the last few weeks have been!
I now have a good excuse to go stationery shopping though as I have a school desk that requires kitting out and my desk at home needs restocking too. It has been so nice to have a desk to call my own in the staffroom, although I think I need a secretary to help me keep things organised as there never seems to be enough space for all my papers and folders. There also seems to be some kind of creature living in my top drawer that has an appetite for pens....they are disappearing at an alarming rate!

Ambling Ramblings #22- In, Out, Up, Down and Around London

Jane Austen, a royal castle and more time in my favourite city....what more could a girl want I three days!

Upon returning from our tour of the countryside, we were no longer content to simply stay in London for our last few days so have done a few trips out of the city to explore other areas. The first day after our tour we stayed in London as there were a few things we still needed to do before we leave. The first of these being a visit to the original Twinings tea shop, not only to browse through, but to stock up on a few different types of tea that aren't always readily available in supermarkets. I think I have enough to last me through my first week of teaching now! We also walked along the Thames past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, the London Eye and a few other iconic buildings of significance back to Shakespeare's Globe as there were a few things I wanted to see again. It then took us over and hour to walk all the way back to the side of the city we are staying on (we didn't quite think it was that far, but hey, we got to see more of the city!) and stopped in at Primark, a large department store that is fairly cheap in its prices-a few people we have met recommended we go there to do some shopping, and since it was quite imperative that I purchase another bag to get all of our paraphernalia back to Australia, we thought we'd try there! We were successful and marnie bought a few other things while we were there too. By this time, it was late afternoon and we had a very important date that night to go and get ourselves dressed up and ready for. 
We decided we should go and see a show while we were in London, as this city is famous for its theatre so that's exactly what we did. We had just a minor glitch along the way-you know you are in a cultured city when there are so many theatres that they start having similar names and you get confused as to where you should be! We went to the Apollo Theatre, only to find that the show we were seeing was actually at the Apollo Victoria, so we quickly hopped back on the train to get to that theatre just in time! It was well worth it and we both loved our night out on the town being cultured! Dressing up was also good fun and any excuse will do :-) 
The following day we went on an excursion to the country, to Chawton to visit Jane Austen's house and museum (Can you tell I'm a Jane Austen fan, with a visit to Bath and to Chawton in one week!) I have thoroughly educated Marnie and she now has an appreciation for the works of my favourite author, however we were the only people under the age of 50 to be visiting the house that day-as we entered, the steward at the house looked at us and asked if we were avid Jane Austen readers, as I think he was surprised to see us! The house is incredible and so well laid out. Each room is set up as it would have been in Jane Austen's time with items from her and her family laid out in each room with very good explanations and descriptions of each item nearby. The gardens were also beautiful, as everything was just starting to bloom, making it a lovely day out in a quiet village in the south of England. 
The next day was another excursion out of London, a trip to Windsor Castle-one of the official residences of Her Majesty the Queen. There was an lovely collection of sixty photographs of the Queen on display in the castle as a part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations-it's a good year to be visiting London, with the Olympics coming later in the year as well as it being a jubilee year! One of my favourite parts was seeing Queen Mary's doll house which is not a child's toy but a beautiful exhibit of miniatures, complete with working electricity and plumbing in the house! I also enjoyed seeing France and Marianne, two dolls that were given to Queen Elizabeth and her sister when they were girls-the dolls have a complete wardrobe of outfits for every occasion and are beautiful! The apartments and suites in the castle were incredible and very tastefully decorated and it was very interesting to see how the interior designs changed over time as different regents added their own tastes in the decorations of the rooms and added to the art collection. I loved seeing the portraits of Queen Elizabeth I amongst other past members of the royal family, as well as suits of armour, the china collection of exquisite dining settings-they have over 40 sets to choose from! I only dream of having just one set one day! 
The castle is very extensive and took us quite a few hours to walk through, and we only saw a portion of the castle as not all of it is open to the public! I saw the rooms where, if I were ever so fortunate, I would meet the Queen in, however, although she was in residence at Windsor when we were there, she wasn't receiving visitors for tea today. I'll just have to call again sometime to have tea with the Queen! As is typical in England, it was raining today so we didn't go out into the gardens, but what we saw of them was very beautiful. 
Just a few days now until I'll be back on the other side of the world...far away from all these historic treasures that I have been so privileged to see and experience for myself, but I am certainly bringing lots of memories back with me (along with thousands of photos and just a few souvenirs!)

Ambling Ramblings #21- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

On our return across the Channel, we had a day of exploring London (my all time favourite city in the world) in which we went back to the Victoria and Albert Museum, a place we went to last time we were in London, but needed more time to explore further. We had a lot of fun with the interactive displays and I tried on a corset and hoop skirt, and then we designed textiles and book plates on some digital interactive activities which was a lot of fun. We did get a few strange looks though, as I think we are perhaps a little too old for such things, but what can I say, the child in me likes to come out and play! We also loved seeing lots of lovely teapots and other antique china, beautiful furniture and old clothing and then some incredible old books and other historic artefacts. We also went to the British Museum, which has an amazing collection of historic artefacts from all around the world and from all eras of history. Some of the ancient pieces, Egyptian Mummies, Persian sculptures from Bible times as well as items from the Greek and Roman empires were just incredible to physically see. It has given me a greater understanding and appreciation of the history of our world and just how the world as we know it has developed. I also enjoyed some of the more recent pieces, like a collection of clocks, from intricate little pocket watches to great big Grandfather clocks. By this time we had seen so many things that we couldn't take in any more, so called it a day and walked through the city back to our hotel. We have got quite good at using the tube and are quite comfortable with catching the trains in London so we do that when we get tired (this is, after all, quite a big city and you can only walk so far in a day, craning your neck upwards to look at everything around you!) I have loved seeing spring come to the city and seeing all the parks that we saw five weeks ago coming to life with blossoms in the trees, daffodils blooming everywhere, swans on the lakes and ponds and more and more green life every day. It's just so beautiful, even the window boxes on all the apartment buildings are full of beautiful pansies, tulips, jonquils and other very bright, happy flowers. 
Saturday and Sunday were spent on a two day bus tour of Southwest England through Oxford, the Cotswolds (one of the most beautiful parts of England), Bristol, Bath and Stonehenge as well as stopping in a lot of lovely little villages along the way and driving down country lanes through the English countryside.  There were only three other people on the tour, so it was a nice and small tour group with a really good tour guide who knew a lot about the area and had lots of good stories to tell. We had a fabulous time, although it was strange to have someone else organizing our days for us, after being self reliant for so long! 
I loved all the picturesque countryside, sheep grazing on the hillside, gorgeous little cottages covered in vines, lunch in a lovely little tea room, lots of antiques shops, the lovely little bridges and gardens in the villages, the big old manor houses, settings from period dramas that I love, drywall stone fences through the fields, hedgerows and a vibrant rainbow that we stopped for photos of as the colors were so deep! Our tour guide in Oxford was quite the character, this lady had the biggest personality i have ever encountered, two hours with her were quite exhausting! We were in Oxford on degree day, so saw lots of students and professors in academic regalia, ready for graduation ceremonies. The highlight of the time in Oxford though was visiting Blackwells bookshop and browsing through hundreds of books-another of my 'one weaknesses'!   
Although the little country villages scattered throughout the Cotswolds, like Stow on the Wold, Castle Combe, Upper Slaughter (quite the name!), Lacock and Bibury were my favourite stops on the tour, I must confess that I very much enjoyed going to Bath. In Bath we went to the Roman Baths, wandered the streets and went to the Jane Austen centre for a tour and an insight into the two novels that she set in Bath, one of which is my favourite of all her novels, 'Persuasion'. The centre has quite an extensive collection of pieces relating to Jane Austen and has a very well organized exhibit about the years that she lived in Bath and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about my most admired literary works and their author. We also stopped at Stonehenge on the way back to London from Bath and although it was quite cold, wet and rainy, it was nice to get out of the tour bus and walk around a field looking up at an incredibly dramatic sky with dark clouds rolling in on one side, and clear, cornflower blue sky on the other. Spending two days in such a beautiful part of the country just makes me want to see more, not only of that region, but to explore further afield someday! 

Ambling Ramblings #20-A Mixed Bag of Jellybeans

20 posts thus far.....something of a milestone I do believe! We are nearing the end though, so not many more to come after this one. (Is that a sigh of relief I hear?)

Our last few days on the Continent were like a bag of Jellybeans, we never knew what colour we were going to pull out next and had a few adventurous moments along the way and certainly sampled every colour. From Amsterdam we caught the train to Cologne and had the shortest and least eventful walk to our hotel of any city in Europe! We arrived with just enough daylight to see the Cologne Cathedral, which is grand on truly epic proportions in its Gothic architecture and incredible stained glass windows. Amazingly incredible to see and stand in, gazing up at the intricate designs in the windows, each of them with a story to tell and the longer you stand looking, the more you see in it. We also managed to fit in some shopping (of course!) and wandered in and out of shops until we could shop no more! The next morning it was back to the train station for our final Eurail Pass train journey-the end of what has been an exhilarating and exciting adventure around the Continent. We headed to Brussels for the night where we only had enough time before our train the next day to buy a considerable weight of Belgian chocolate (which we now have to carry halfway around the world....I don't think we thought that one through very well!).

Our last few days on the continent were quite a whirlwind and have melded into a mashed and swirled marble cake of memories. The jumbled blur of what I can remember looks something like this: impressive cathedral in Cologne, fancy shops and pretty dresses, sitting on a train facing forwards, sitting on a train facing backwards, pretty countryside, night on the floor by the heater (long story, don't ask!), ensuite bathroom reached by a little staircase in our room, tea, more tea, chocolate waffles, tasty pastries, lots of steps, lots more steps, waiting at the train station, lugging heavy bags weighted down by chocolate (oh and one or two paving stones I've picked up along the way as souvenirs), getting lost, finding ourselves again, pecan Danish pastries, separation anxiety from Marnie, long walks on extremely long train platforms from carriage 17 to carriage 3 and a whole lot more.

In the last 7 nights I have slept in 7 different beds. Settling into a routine at home will be quite an adjustment from this nomadic lifestyle, although it will be nice to not be living out of a suitcase, to have my own bed, to be in one bed for more than a few nights at a time and to know where in the world I am at any given time! It will certainly be very different, and I'm sure it won't be long before I have itchy feet again and am planning my next trip somewhere-anyone want to join me?

Ambling Ramblings #19-Artsy Amusements in Amsterdam

After searching high and low through the supermarkets of Europe since leaving France, we finally found crepes again in Amsterdam, making us two very happy little Vegemites (although here, I think it would be Nutella rather than Vegemite as that is definitely the most popular spread and one that we often indulge in!). We also had the surprise of having a kettle on our room- which as I'm sure you could guess, made me very happy as I could have tea with my Nutella crepes! 
We did do more than eat crepes and drink tea in Amsterdam and enjoyed our brief stay there. I definitely think that Venice does canals better than Amsterdam, although I saw quite a few swans swimming elegantly on the canals here giving an added touch of sophistication to the city. The stereotype of Amsterdam as having cyclists everywhere is definitely true and walking around can be somewhat treacherous as the bikes are more dangerous than the cars! To cross a road  you have to check two lanes of traffic and two lanes of cyclists making it a leap of faith to step out onto the road at times. Unlike Venice, vehicles are allowed down the narrow lanes and it was quite funny watching cars squeeze down lanes, mounting the footpath on either side (although we made sure we stood well clear!) 
One of my favourite parts of walking around Amsterdam were the florists everywhere selling beautiful flowers and floral arrangements which are very popular as many people don't have gardens, especially in the city, and in winter gardens don't grow very well anyway so you often see people walking home with their bread in one arm and a bunch of flowers all wrapped up in the other. Poor Marnie has had to put up with me constantly stopping to admire the flowers as I literally stop to smell the roses! 
Apart from wandering the streets and seeing the sights (old churches, the palace, canals, bridges, Rembrandt's House etc.) we did quite a bit of shopping in Amsterdam in some very funky and trendy designer shops (we have both developed a taste for designer clothing and already have some favourite designers-most of which you can't get in Australia at all so I suppose our future salaries are safe!). We enjoyed window shopping and dreaming and also trying on a few things that we especially liked-that is one thing about shopping in winter, you have so many layers on that it takes half an hour to just to try one dress on so we only try on things that are really worth the effort of delayering and relayering! We both walked out of our favourite designer shop with new dresses that we just couldn't resist as they were on sale and we know we can't get them in Australia! I also enjoyed walking through a willow-ware shop and admiring the exquisite china as well as some lovely homeware and antique shops. 
I have discovered that kettles are useful for more than making tea and using just a kettle and two cups, you can cook a decent and edible meal...'tis somewhat of a feat, but I rose to the challenge to make a noodle and vegetable casserole-type concoction using a dry soup mix, frozen vegetables and noodles and a few kettle-fulls of hot water to cook it in! It was quite a palatable dinner and we enjoyed another hotel room picnic before watching a football game on TV (European football, so soccer for those who require the distinction to be made). Next time I travel I'd like to go beyond just Amsterdam and see more of The Netherlands outside of the capital city, but for a stopover, Amsterdam was certainly no letdown and amused us quite delightfully while we were there.

Ambling Ramblings #18- Berlin Blunderings and Broodings

As a city that, in its current modern and united state, is only as old as me, Berlin has always been a place that I have wanted to visit and experience for myself (being the setting of one of my favourite books 'Stasiland' may also be a contributing factor!). Although the transport system in Berlin wins the prize for having the most confusing network of any capital city in Europe, we still managed to see quite a lot while we were there. There were numerous times when I was completely and utterly mystified as to the whereabouts of both my location and my destination! The system is not as clearly colour coded as it is in other cities, and the underground and aboveground lines overlap and merge and cross over on the map and in the stations and to change trains you have to go up two levels, cross a street (or walk around the block), go down one level, walk down a tunnel (the stations are like rabbit warrens, with tunnels everywhere!), go down more escalators, around a corner and along another tunnel and then hope that you choose the right side of the platform to get on the train going in the direction you want to go! For someone that is navigationally challenged-to put it mildly-I spent most of the time in Berlin completely disoriented and bewildered, but thankfully we made it to a few of the major icons of the city and back to our hotel in one piece.
In Berlin we saw the standard sights-government buildings, skyscrapers, historical relics, parks, shopping districts and monements including the Reichstag, the TV Tower and Brandenburg Gate. The two most impacting moments for me were seeing the Holocaust Memorial and the East Side Gallery. The Holocaust Memorial consists of rows of large cement blocks of varying heights (many of them are a lot taller than me) and wandering between and around them was quite sobering and chilling as we reflected on the loss of so many innocent lives all in the pursuit of an ideal. The sheer number of blocks and being surrounded by a maze of rows of cold hard cement and only just being able to see the sky through the top helped me to grasp a deeper understanding of the scale and heartlessness of the Holocaust and to reflect on the horrors of it. Experiencing that has made me convinced of the need to respect all humans, regardless of their race, religion, culture, language, background, physical condition, social and economic status and to ensure that human rights are protected in order to prevent such tragedies occurring again. There certainly are valuable lessons to be learned from history if we would only listen and stand up against injustice.
Visiting the other iconic landmark of Berlin, the Wall was another impacting moment for me. The longest remaining section of the Wall is known as the East Side Gallery and was painted by artists from all around the world after the Wall came down as an expression of the joy and freedom that people felt. One of the artists, Fluvio Punha, painted this quote on the wall, and I felt that it summed up the significance and symbolism of the Wall in modern Berlin:
"I painted over the wall of shame, so freedom is ashamed no more. Inferno ruled too many years, until the people chose the light. I put my faith in you Berlin and give to you my colors bright."
It was quite remarkable to be standing next to a wall that completely divided a city for so many years and is a very visible reminder of the stark realities of the Iron Curtain and Communism in Europe. Berlin was certainly a noteworthy place to visit as there is so much recent history with visible reminders of it scattered throughout the city.
I was able to put my four years of high school German to good use one evening in Berlin as an elderly lady stopped us as we were walking and asked for help to get her trolley down the steps as it was too heavy for her to lift and she didn't want it to fall-I was very glad that I was able to understand her and respond appropriately and to be able to help! Another highlight of our time in Berlin was the buskers everywhere-even on the train! I loved hearing music everywhere (predominantly accordions-like Hans in 'The Book Theif' another of my favourite books set in Germany!) but we were pleasantly surprised to get on the train one afternoon and hear a violinist playing incredibly well in spite of the jolting and bumping of the train! Another of my favourite things in Berlin was the pedestrian traffic signals-the green and red men have hats on!

Ambling Ramblings #17-'Purfect Prague'

Warning: According to Marnie, her blogs are the storybook version of our travels, while mine are the encyclopedia/novel versions so if you want a more condensed and entertaining recount of our adventures, please head over to her blog (marnie-abroad) and save yourself from having to scroll all the way to the bottom of my blog to get to the interesting story!

We arrived in Prague fairly late in the evening, but thanks to Marnie's fantastic navigating skills, we made it to out hotel incident free (she has finally learned to not listen to me-I would have sent us in the wrong direction entirely and we never would have got there!). Our hotel itself provided us with much entertainment-even the name (Hotel Purpur) made us giggle! The decor of the hotel is bright pink-a rather uncommon colour scheme in a hotel! We were upgraded to a triple room when we arrived, so it was nice to have a bit of extra space (and an extra bed to dump all our paraphernalia on!) but the highlight of our room for me was that we didn't just have a kettle, but we had a little kitchenette! I thoroughly enjoyed being domestic again and cooked dinner, washed dishes and played 'house' (Marnie seemed all too willing to leave the cooking to me so I had fun experimenting and improvising with our 4 saucepans, 3 place settings and 2 hotplates). On our first night I made soup using some things we had brought with us, and then the next day we went grocery shopping so that I could make a pasta dish and then a rice casserole, both with lots of veggies in them,-it was very nice to eat 'home cooked meals' and to eat off a plate with cutlery! 
Outside of the hotel, Prague is a charming city, situated on a river (as most old cities are) with beautiful buildings with ornate windows and doors, winding streets, statues of famous heroes from years gone by and of course, it's fair share of steeples, churches, bridges, town squares and even a castle thrown in to even out the mix! I took aver 300 photos on our first day of exploring-I think that's a record for me! 
On our first full day, we went walking through Old Town, finding lots of beautiful little shops selling exquisite Bohemian crystal amongst other things, as well as seeing Wenceslas Square, the Astronomical Clock, which is well worth waiting for it to chime on the hour-first a bell rings, and then images of the apostles parade around the top of it, a golden bird 'cuckoo's' and then a horn player trumpets from the top of the tower-all in all, the chiming process takes about 5 minutes! We then walked to the river and along the Charles Bridge (which is very, very old)  and saw many other old buildings that we assume are significant, but are not sure what their stories are! Methinks I will have some research to do when I get home in order to find out about all of the things that I have seen. 
The next day, we made our way to Prague Castle which is situated on a hill-it was quite a steep climb to get up to the castle complex, which is quite extensive, having a large gothic cathedral and numerous other buildings which we enjoyed wandering around. The views of the city from the castle complex were well worth the climb as Prague is indeed a lovely city. We then went shopping as we had converted some Euros into Czech Crowns and since we can't use them anywhere else, we thought the best thing to do would be to spend them! We spent quite a few hundred Crowns on beautiful scarves alone, as well as buying a few other little things, but the scarf shopping was by far the most fun! Our only dilemma was narrowing down the selection as they were all so lovely (and scarves are my one weakness!). 
We did learn one important thing in the Czech Republic-a country where neither of us knows any of the language, which did make us feel somewhat alienated but we got by and just smiled a lot (at least smiling is fairly universal!). We learned that just because you are in a foreign speaking country, you cannot assume that the people around you don't speak English. On the train to Prague, Marnie and I were engaged in a very girly discussion, about very girly topics which we continued even when we were joined in our compartment by a Czech gentleman whom we assumed didn't speak English as he greeted us in Czech and didn't seem to understand our 'hello'. This very innocent, but extremely girly conversation lasted for well over an hour and covereed numerous topics (not a difficult feat for us girls!) until the train stopped and the gentleman rose to leave, saying in very clear English 'thank you for allowing me to travel with you in the compartment. I wish you a pleasant journey'. Marnie and I just stared at each other and then (after he had left the carriage) burst into laughter and giggled for the rest of the way to Prague! (Note to self, confine yourself to sensible conversations in train carriages, even when you are far away from English speaking countries! Thankfully, we won't ever have to see him again!) Hopefully we have learned our lesson....for now....let's see what adventures we can have on our next journey!

If you chose to read on, regardless of my warning at the top, I congratulate you and thank you for your time and effort!

Ambling Ramblings #16-Vacationing in Vienna

A highlight of our stay in Vienna was having a kettle and teacups in our hotel room....needless to say, we had many cups of tea each day we were there (I think I averaged 4 cups of tea per day!). Finding our hotel however, was no cup of tea (if you'll excuse the pun) and it was only thanks to the help of a very kind stranger who showed on her map where we should go to find our hotel. The directions that we had acquired from the tourist information centre at the train station did not get us where we wanted to go and this lady obviously noticed our very bewildered and 'lost little girl' looks on our faces and offered her assistance and set us in the right direction. We have been constantly reminded of God's care and protection over us throughout our trip, but it is especially clear that He is watching over us when we arrive in a strange city when it is already dark, and He sends someone to help us find our way. We have truly been blessed and are so very thankful for having the protection of the creator of the world and to know that Someone who is greater than every situation we find ourselves in is watching over us. We certainly appreciate all the prayers of those of you who have been praying for us.
Our stay in Vienna was relatively relaxing (once we got our bearings and figured out the underground metro system, as well as the trams, above ground trains, buses and long distance trains) and we both enjoyed bubble baths in our hotel, along with the many cups of tea (I'm very glad that Marnie appreciates tea jut as much as I do and therefore can join me in sampling new kinds of teas!). We were also finally able to find a bandage for my ankle (something that was quite a feat to find as they aren't very easily available!) as well as mail home some postcards (finally! Hopefully they will beat us home and not get lost in the mail).
As a city, 'old Vienna' is encircled by 'new Vienna' and most train lines and trams take you right into the heart of the old section where many of the main sights are located (and where I, being a history teacher and therefore interested in all the 'old stuff', am more interested). There is a change from paved streets to narrower, cobblestoned streets lined with old buildings and with spire of cathedrals and bell towers marking the skyline. Vienna is a very modern city, and yet they haven't diminished the richness of their past, but built upon it and incorporated it into the city. The sights of Vienna were well worth seeing and we enjoyed St Stephens Cathedral, the Rathaus and the Hofburg as well as Schonbrunn Palace (the previous residence of the Habsburgs-the imperial family of Austria) where we spent quite a while wandering in the extensive gardens. In our wanderings in the city, we stumbled across quite a few lovely little antiques shops in which the antiques are really, really old (at least by Australian standards) and beautifully preserved as well as being exquisitely beautiful!
Something that made me giggle was a lot of tourist paraphernalia promoting 'no kangaroos in Austria!' (I assume that Austrians must have problems with tourists expecting to find kangaroos and other such Australian icons there!) As Australian tourists, Marnie and I were very much amused at seeing signs, posters, shirts and a big, yellow plastic kangaroo all with 'no kangaroos in Austria' emblazoned across them!
Another highlight of our stay in Vienna was a visit to the Spanish Riding School (somewhere I just had to go on behalf of a certain little sister of mine!) where we watched a morning exercise routine which was accompanied by classical music. The Lippizaner horses are truly magnificent and beautiful animals and their riders have such control over their every move. I think my favorite part was when they had the horses skipping!
It was then time for us to load ourselves up like packhorses and make our way to the train station to move on to our next city. We only have a few weeks left of our nomadic lifestyle but I'm sure there are still many adventures awaiting us!

Ambling Ramblings #15- Marching through Munich

Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut.....so I won't write my entire blog in German, but I have been having fun putting to use the 4 years of studying German that I did in high school! It's been good to be in a country where I at least have some idea of what is being said to me and around me and where I can make appropriate replies and greetings.
Although our hotel in Munich was quite a hike from the train station (1.4 kilometers) we decided it was worth it because we had a coffee/tea maker at our disposal which we made very frequent use of! We also loved the fact that the quilts on our beds were very fluffy and wonderful to snuggle in on a chilly winter night.
We have discovered that the combination of two girls who have been travelling together for a while, long train trips that get boring when we run out of food, too many late nights, overactive imaginations, too much tea, too much sugar (for marnie) and too much laughter and giggling leads to some very strange occurrences (however, what happens in Europe, stays in Europe!)-it's ok, we've got away with only a few minor infringements!
Our first day in Munich was not spent in Munich, but rather in Fussen, the location of Neuschwanstein Castle, one of the most picturesque and happily situated castles I have ever seen or heard of. King Ludwig II of Bavaria had it build based on an artist's painting and dedicated the interior of the castle to the operatic works of Wagner. Although these are all important facts, one of the highlights of the day for me was not the castle, but rather the horse and carriage ride up to the castle! Due to the snow and ice, the buses to the castle weren't running (what a shame....) so, instead, we had to go up by horse and carriage ride (quite appropriate for a visit to the castle that Disney allegedly based theirs off!). The view from the castle was spectacular-it was enthralling to be up in the Alps looking down over the plains, rather than always looking up at the mountains from below! The castle itself is magnificent, framed by the Alps and yet fitting it's surroundings so well, with the spires of the towers mimicking the peaks of the mountains. Seeing the castle in wintertime, with everything covered in snow and glistening in the sunlight only added to the magical atmosphere and made it feel even more like a fairy tale.
We went on a tour of the castle (as that is the only way to get inside) and although we were disappointed that being inside the castle wasn't any warmer than it was outside-we were both freezing-the interior was incredible. The furnishings and decorations were beautifully and tastefully done (although extravagant and splendid too!). There was a even a cave inside the castle! (as well as all of the other, standard castle-y type rooms like a chapel, bedchamber, dining room, servants quarters etc.) I have decided that I want a castle so that I can indulge my every whim and have caves, towers, attics, spiralling staircases, stained glass windows, frescoes on the ceiling, gold filigree on pillars, a canopy bed, a ballroom, libraries and window seats! My favorite room of the castle was the Singer's Hall or ballroom, which had a painting on the stage backdrop that looked exactly like a forest scene from a Disney movie (so much so that I expected the squirrels to scamper up and down the trees and someone to burst into song!)
That night we enjoyed multiple cups of tea whilst watching Jane Austen's 'Emma' (the BBC version, of course!)-I am working on improving Marnie's knowledge of period dramas and great literary classics :-)
The following day, we shopped for some supplies in Aldi (for the authentic, German Aldi experience), did a bit of sightseeing around Munich and then headed for the train station (which was quite a feat in of itself as between Marnie's bags weighing her down with all the food we bought, and my ankle causing me to limp very slowly along the street it took us around 40 minutes to walk a kilometer-and what a sight we were!) By the time we got to the train station we were very ready to be able to sit down for 4 hours as we moved on to our next city.

A Match Made in Munich

She's finally gone and done it! This time, I don't think I can get her out of this mess! Marnie has discovered the hard way that it pays to know a foreign language, and that when the man with nice eyes asks you a question, you don't just nod your head and say 'yes'! (Courting customs overseas can be a little different to those in Australia!)
My attempt in educating my traveling buddy in BBC Period dramas has taken an unexpected turn, as she was growing impatient with our heroines taking 6 hours to work out who they really loved, that it only took her a 2 hour train trip to make up her mind.....(hmmm, maybe I'm not the best one to go to for relationship advice!)
I seem to have lost my job as a traveling buddy but have procured one as an interpreter (I knew those 4 years of learning German in high school would come in handy one day!)

Ambling Ramblings #14-Ambush, Albanians and an Alpine Avalanche

The Alps are truly stunningly breathtaking and well deserve their reputation as some of the world's most. Incredible peaks. The towering, snow capped, rugged and rocky mountains, many with their peaks obscured by cloud, surrounding lakes with chalets dotted high in the hills, gushing streams with snowy banks, lovely stone bridges, curving gently over the creeks and streams, frozen waterfalls on rocky outcroppings and small towns scattered along the railway tracks kept me vastly entertained on the train trip from Italy to Switzerland.
Our journey was not without adventure though, our first train pulled up and we boarded and looked for our seats which were in carriage 9, only to discover that this train only had 8 carriages! We managed to find some other seats and settled in for the first of 3 train rides. Arriving in Zurich, our next train was delayed due to the snowy conditions, meaning we would miss our following train, which wasn't too much of an issue, as trains run that route every hour, it just made our day a bit longer! It was so nice to finally arrive at our destination in Switzerland and curl up by the fire in the home of some very kind and generous friends from years past. It was so nice to enjoy some home cooked meals and to stay in a house, instead of hotel rooms for a change! We felt quite refreshed when we left after having had a 'snow day'. We enjoyed countless cups of tea by the fire, went for a walk with our umbrellas in the snow (it was falling all day), made snow angels on the backyard and then I was ambushed with a great, big wet snowball from my lovely travelling buddy! (I got her back though and we had a good snow ball fight!) It was a lot of fun staying with a family and eating some very Swiss meals (with lots of good cheese!) as well as getting to do some washing!
Our next lot of train travel was not dull either and made for quite a day as we left Switzerland! The first train trip was without incident, however, then the fun really started! We were settled comfortably in our seats and had eaten our lovely packed lunches when the train suddenly terminated at a small station somewhere near the border of Switzerland and Austria due to the risk of an avalanche in the mountains! The hazards of travelling in winter I suppose. We were transferred to buses to take us through the mountains and then were put back on a train for the rest of the way, adding another hour to an already 4 hour long trip. This meant that we missed the next train, but managed to amuse ourselves at the station while waiting for the next one by having a picnic of biscuits and nutella (our new staple food) on the platform. We got some very strange looks from passer-bys, but we had fun with it! Getting on the next train, finding seats with enough space for us and our bags proved to be somewhat problematic, and when we finally found a compartment with enough space in it, we tumbled in, almost landing in the laps of our fellow passengers! One of these passengers proved to be a most interesting fellow from Albania who spoke very limited English, but was determined to make conversation with us. He could well have been an ambassador for his country as he was very keen to encourage us to visit Albania and reassured us that although there is violence and trouble in his country, tourists are quite safe and protected by the police.....we weren't entirely convinced and will be leaving Albania off our travel plans for this trip!
Oh the fun and adventure of train travel! Never a dull moment (especially with a travelling buddy like mine!).

Ambling Ramblings #13-Vanquishing Venice and Verona

After spending two weeks being perpetually lost due to my severe lack of any sen of direction and my inability to follow directions from Google maps, my every faithful travelling companion decided she would take over and do the navigating....no one can be worse than me so I gladly relinquished the map and Venice is the first city that we have been to where we have successfully found our accommodation without getting lost (which was absolutely no thanks to me!). I thought that this was quite impressive as Venice is notorious for being confusing and for getting lost in as all of the lanes, canals and bridges start to look the same after a while-as we discovered that evening when we did get lost (thanks to me!). Thankfully, Marnie does have a sense of direction and can remember where we have and haven't been, while I keep getting distracted by all the pretty things and old buildings and lovely bridges! Good thing I have her along, or who knows where I would be by now! I think it was quite the accomplishment to conquer navigating a city that has canals instead of roads and winding little alleyways and very few street signs!
Venice was indeed a beautiful city and we got to experience it in Carnevale mode which was a little bit deterring at first, but we got into the spirit of it and quite enjoyed all of the costumes and masks after a while-although the city was very busy and there were a lot of people around. We were still able to see the main sights and admired St Mark's Cathedral from inside and out as well as seeing the Doge Palace, but more than that, we just enjoyed walking through the lanes and along the canals, crossing countless bridges and visiting lots of beautiful little shops as well as window shopping. We saw a lot of beautiful handcrafted lace and glass-2 things that Venice is justifiably famous for, as well as the elaborate masks!
After our 2 days in Venice, we moved on to another famous 'V' city-Verona! Again, Marnie navigated us to our hotel successfully (even though the street signs were hard to find here as well)-she certainly has a better track record than I do for finding our way around! We were only there for one night, but in that time managed to see the Arena(a smaller, pink version of the Colosseum, but still impressive in its own right) as well as Juliet's House (or La Casa de Guillieta) on Via Capello (Capulet Street). The iconic balcony was worth seeing and now I can say I've been there! We were very excited to find a supermarket with more than 3 aisles in it-somthing that we have not come across thus far-and spent quite a while walking around it and then stocking up on some fruit and other bits and pieces for our next train trips. We then spent our last night in Italy eating pizza near a lovely fountain in the middle of the main square in Verona, a perfect ending to a visit in a country that has so much rich history, natural beauty and remnants of centuries past.
It's onwards and upwards from here, through the Alps as we head further north.

Ambling Ramblings #12-A Fun-filled Frolic in Florence

Florence is a city that is full of Renaissance charm. Not only is it a city where Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and a host of other famous Renaissance artists based themselves for some period of time, for a while it was the cultural capital of the world and there are remnants of that time around every corner. From the people in their little shops making beautiful items (leather work, instrument making-we watched a man making a cello, restoring beautiful old furniture, painting, sculpture, picture framing, making light shades and lamps) to the historic architecture,quirky little lanes, beautiful church spires, old castle walls and watch towers and cobblestoned streets, this truly is a beautiful city. Down every lane we walked, we found something either to amuse us or admire or take photos of! There's just so much character here, but yet it's such an unassuming and unpretentious place (unlike some of the bigger cities we have visited). There was even a very light snowfall yesterday that just added to our love of Florence!
One of the things that has amused me most (and this just shows you how tired I am!) is the size of the cars and vehicles here. Scooters and motorbikes are very popular, but those who do drive cars, drive very small ones. A lot of the trucks have just 3 wheels and look quite comical (yes, i have photos of them) and I have seen quite a few smart cars and numerous tiny one person cars (for those of you who are familiar with Top Gear, it's the car that Clarkson drives into the elevator of the BBC building-they seem to be quite popular little cars here!). Even the buses are small, they look like a cardboard box on wheels....and look to be about as sturdy as that-needless to say, we walk everywhere we go!
Hopefully our next city will be just as amusing-although I don't think there will be as many cars there! I'm sure I'll find something else to entertain me though.
Ciao!

Ambling Ramblings #11-Roman Ruins

Rome, an ancient and historic city, once the centre of the world and the capital of one of the greatest ancient empires, one of the birthplaces of western civilization and a significant part of early Church history. And I had to fit all of this into just 3 days!
Rome was an adventure from before we even arrived. Our train from Pisa was stopped in Grosetto (a little more than half way to Rome) as the trains weren't going any further due to the snow and ice on the tracks-I guess this is what happens when you're travelling in Europe during a heavy cold snap! Rome apparently has not had snow like this since 1986 and it severely disrupted the city, so I'm glad we arrived the day after the snow storm, and not during it! We were transferred to buses into Rome, thus arriving almost an hour later than planned. The task of finding our hotel room has always been quite difficult as I am severely navigationally challenged and yet am being left in charge of directions! thankfully, an information official noticed our bewilderment at being in yet another new city and gave us a map and pointed us in the right direction from the station, however, we still managed to get quite lost and it wasn't until after if made a very graceful entrance into Rome by landing on my back after slipping on some ice, thus ending up like a turtle upside down on the ground that we found our street located the hotel. We are very good at making ourselves quite at home in a new room and very quickly end up with our belongings strewn from one end of the room to the other!
Getting lost on our first night apparently not enough of an adventure for us, as the next morning we set out to explore and proceeded to get very lost quite quickly (travel tip: when exploring a new city, stay on your map and don't walk off it! It makes finding yourself very difficult indeed). After walking up and down streets and trying to figure out where we were and where we should be going for almost 2 hours, we finally found the right street and made it back to our hotel to dry off (yes, I'd fallen over....again....Rome looks different from the ground looking up-I just wanted a different perspective on all the sights!) and then set off in the opposite direction, this time following our map and ended up in Old Rome, seeing the Colosseum (which truly is colossal and magnificent) the Roman forum and other ancient ruins. I found it quite surreal to be walking in places where the early Christians lived and were persecuted and martyred and where the apostle Paul wrote one of his letters to. Also just seeing all these places that I'd read so much about and studied for so many years was quite amazing. Rome is a city that I would love to go back to one day to explore further (although it was exciting being there with the snow, it meant a lot of things were shut so we couldn't go into them this time).
Our second day in Rome was largely spent in the smallest sovereign state in the world, Vatican City and exploring St Peter's Basilica (which we didn't have to wait in a line for-contrary to what people trying to sell us tours were telling us), a walk along the Tiber River, a stop in front of the Castel Sant' Angelo, wandering across some very petty bridges and then into the Vatican Museum. The museum was another place that I could spend weeks in and not see enough! The Map Gallery, with huge topographical maps in it was one of my favorite galleries, but I loved just walking though the corridors, many of which had ceilings that were more fascinating than the art on the walls! The Sistine Chapel was quite crowded, which made it difficult to absorb the grandeur or Michelangelo's interpretation of Creation and The Last Judgement and although his work is not my favorite, seeing it in person was still a remarkable experience.
Our last full day in Rome involved a search for the elusive Trevi Fountain (we had looked for it the day before and got lost-again) but we finally found it and it was well worth the search, it's almost more of a waterfall than a fountain! We also went to the Pantheon which is very well preserved and compared to many of the other churches and cathedrals we have visited, was quite ,simply decorated on the inside, which I appreciated and found to be quite beautiful.
Sightseeing thus ended and we spent the remainder of the day windo shopping-the streets are lined with designer shops, most of which had lots of sales on so it was fun to go in and look at some very fancy things. We ended up in the high end of town where we found shops with coats on sale for 7000 euros ( yes, seven thousand is correct)-a little bit out of our budget! We retreated back to the main streets and stumbled across a lovely little gelati shop which we just had to try! I had hazelnut (which is a very popular flavor and well deserves to be!) and nutella (something that is also very popular-you can buy it in 4 kg jars here!) and managed to eat a good portion of my scoops, although the dairy was a bit much for me after a while! It was certainly yummy enough to make it worth it though.
This is as far south as we come before we head home, so we head north next, but will still be in Italy for a few days, but exploring other parts of this beautiful country.

Ambling Ramblings #10-Passing through Pisa

We paused in Pisa to pass through and eat platefuls of pizza and pasta and patter down pavements and peer at postcard-worthy places (can you tell I'm an English teacher with all the alliteration in that sentence!).
Our accommodation, although located on a main street and so therefore fairly noisy, was filled with Italian rustic charm, with a frescoe on the ceiling of our room, antique decor throughout, lace curtains, patterned tiles on the floors, lovely old furniture and a very quaint feel to it. Compared to my impressions of France, Italy is very unassuming, quaint and charming- there are still old buildings everywhere and beautiful sights to see, but somehow it's not as pretentious or overbearing, it's far mo subtle and I feel that there is more of an adventure to experience in peeling back the layers and becoming familiar with this place so full of history from so long ago! We quite easily found the famous (or infamous, depending on your viewpoint of this architectural failure turned national monument!) Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is surrounded by a very ancient looking wall and a lovely old church. Located nearby is a statue of Romulus and Remus with the she-wolf, eliciting an ancient history lecture from me to my poor traveling buddy (she has had to put up with me being fascinated by all this 'old stuff' for a week already now!). I found Pisa to be a lovely place for a stopover and enjoyed our day of shopping and wandering the cobble-stoned alleys, through old buildings and across a quant bridge over the river. Now all I need to do is improve my Italian vocabulary and then I'll be better able to communicate here!

Ambling Ramblings #9- A Note from Nice

The French Riviera is certainly a place that I would love to come back to and visit for longer...the views of the deep and brilliant blues and greens of the Mediterranean, the snow capped mountains, red rocky outcroppings not the ocean and a beautiful sunrise combined to create a most picturesque scene. Not to mention all the farms and old buildings, and even the odd castle and fort ruins along the way! I have come to a point in my life where 3 degrees celsius feels warm and I start shedding layers! Arriving in Nice, we found our hotel after only getting a little bit lost and have decided that this is our favorite hotel thus far! Not only did we get a choice of rooms on arrival, but the room we chose is huge compared to our other ones. It is an attic style room on the top floor with a skylight window and quite a big bathroom. We went for a walk around Nice and found the ocean and enjoyed some time in the sunshine! We went for a climb up more stairs to some viewing platforms to see out over the ocean as well as over Nice and to the snow capped mountains in the background-lots of good photo opportunities as it was truly beautiful! Back on a train today to the next country on our list. Au Revoir France!

Ambling Ramblings#8- Perusing Paris

Paris, I have concluded, is a melting pot of opposites, the ancient and the modern, the very wealthy and the very poor, fast and slow, the old ways and new ways. The population of paris would be at least 1/3 of African descent with a lot of other ethnic groups making up the other 2/3 along with caucasians. The place we were staying in was near 'little India' as i chose to call it, the streets were lined with sari shops and Indian restaurants. The juxtapositioning of the old world and modern world blends and works in a way that is quintessentially Parisian and wouldn't work in any other context. The ancient buildings with designer label shops in them, the opulent displays of wealth in stores with beggars sitting out the front of them....it is certainly a city with character! Although it is famous for being the 'city of lights' I think it could equally be known as the 'city of sirens' as we heard and saw numerous emergency vehicles every day we were in Paris. It could have something to do with the hazardous roads-driving seems to be a free for all with a lot of roads having no lane markings and cars queuing 3 across intersections and people pulling out in front of each other all over the place! I am very glad I was not driving in it-sitting on a bus was enough of a Parisian road experience for me! Walking across the roads was scary enough-we discovered that there comes a time when you do push the big red button, although a lot of the pedestrian crossings in Paris are on a timer and you don't have to push a button to get a green man signal, there are some where you have to push a big red button, just like the buttons you are always told not to push! 
We very quickly put our limited French to use, saying 'Merci' and 'bonjour' at every turn! We navigated the metro system, which thankfully is well signed and although all of the stations are a maze of tunnels, stairs, corridors, escalators and moving walkways, we successfully got to each of our destinations. The Louvre was our first stop, and one of my favorites, it is definitely worth it and I could have easily spent days there! The Mona Lisa was just as beautiful as I had thought it would be. We then boarded 'les cars rouges' a big red tourist bus so that we didn't have to navigate the streets ourselves! This way we saw most of the major sights and could get off and on whenever we wanted to. The Notre Dame cathedral and Arc de Triomphe were both spectacular in their own ways, we climbed up both of them and froze in the wind while looking out over a rather cloudy and smoggy city, that is somehow still pretty through the haze. I loved all the Gothic architecture everywhere, the gargoyles and swirls and sculptures -it seemed that in any space possible to put a flourish, there was something and even when there wasn't space, there was still a flourish of some kind anyway! 
By far my favorite place in Paris was not in the city; the Palace of Versailles was absolutely amazing, the palace itself is spectacular and gorgeously decorated, let alone the gardens that surround it that are impressive, even in winter! The Eiffel Tower was definitely worth facing the cold night air for and I discovered that elevators can move on an angle (something I had not experienced before). Another of my favorite places was the Musee de Orsay, an old train station that was converted into an art gallery where I was able to see some original Monet's- definitely one of my favorite artists as I love the peace and tranquility of the scenes he paints as well as the color and texture that he uses. The museum itself is very cool, being an old train station certainly gives it character. 
I must have blended in fairly well in Paris and not looked too much like a tourist as I was asked for directions or stopped and asked something in French numerous times! I was also asked by some Malaysian tourists to have a photo taken with them on the Eiffel Tower. It certainly was an adventure trying to figure things out in a foreign language, but we just smiled a lot and most people were very friendly and tried to help. 
All in all, Paris was certainly an adventure, from getting stuck in the lift at our hotel the first night (a story in of itself there!), to navigating our way through the streets, figuring out a new currency, communicating in a foreign language and getting very very cold (well below zero if you add the wind chill). Next, we begin our journey south, hopefully to somewhere warmer and with blue sky and sunshine, out of the big cities. 

Ambling Ramblings #7-More of London

I decided i needed to split my London posts in half as it was getting very long winded-this is what you get when you are an English and History major travelling some of the worlds most famous historic sites!
Our next day in London was much slower paced than our first day out on the town, but there was still no lazing about for us. We started our day with a rather long wander through Kensington Gardens, seeing the palace where Queen Victoria lived before she was crowned and other memorials to various royals from the past. Even though it is winter, the gardens were still quite lovely, and I did find a few roses and loved the trees and covered walkways that we could wend our way through! The grass was quite green and lovely and there were fountains, ponds, lakes, streams, moss covered bridges, monuments or buildings at every turn, making for wonderful photo opportunities! We then walked through Hyde Park (which is attached to Kensington Gardens) and found the famous Peter Pan statue which was smaller than I had expected it to be, but still worth finding. We then made our way back to Buckingham Palace to join the throngs waiting for the Changing of the Guard-I loved all the pomp and ceremony of the event which was well worth standing in the cold for an hour waiting! The marching band was my favorite part of it all, but i did enjoy the rest of it too! From the Palace we wandered the streets of London, spotting some well known places, before coming the the Victoria and Albert Museum-a place filled with hundreds of years of historical artifacts, from medieval paintings and religios relics to pieces from Queen Victoria's reign. Twas indeed any student of history's haven and I could easily have spent a week exploring it! I just find it so amazing to see things that people created or used or saw hundreds of years ago, that I can see now and to better understand where the world has come from and how people used to live.
Late in the afternoon, we braved the underground again to Baker Street to see the statue of the famous literary detectives Sherlock Holmes and then to go for a rather lengthy walk through another park to then catch a train back.
The next day was our final day in London (for this time at least) so we spent the morning at London Zoo before making our way to the international train station (making it only just in time! -we had cut it very fine to get there!!) to make our way to our next destination-the continent!

Ambling Ramblings #6- The London Dash

On to the next continent and into London-the great and historic metropolis. Marnie and I met up at heathrow and then we were off on our adventure. We managed to navigate the underground (which is a labyrinth of tunnels at each station) to find a train to take us to our accommodation. In London the trains run very regularly so there is very little wait time and the platforms for each line are well signed and fairly easy to navigate. On the first night we both crashed into bed as we were both tired and I was struggling with yet another time difference.
On our first day we went at a very fast pace and saw most of the iconic sights of London. First stop was St Paul's Cathedral where we sat on the steps (like the bird woman in Mary Poppins)and then walked through the amazing building. It truly made me stop and wonder in awe at the God that inspired men to create such a building in His honor and glory. The cathedral was definitely my favorite place, closely followed by our second stop, the replica of Shakespeare's Globe theatre. We managed to find our way across the Thames to the Globe where we went on a tour-it certainly made me appreciate and better understand the historical contest of his writing as well as giving me a deeper knowledge of how Shakespearean theatre works. We then walked along the Thames, taking in then sights towards the iconic Tower Bridge which we went up inside and walked along. There is so much history to be seen at every corner and the cobblestone walkways, lamp posts and buildings have been there for hundreds of years! I found it quite surreal to be walking the roads and past buildings that people I have studied, read about and written essays on walked down! From the Tower Bridge, we went to the Tower of London, where so many people were once imprisoned and beheaded. We saw the Traitor's Gate, the famous crows and the crown jewels (the highlight of which was Queen Victoria's small diamond crown that is seen in so many pictures of her). We also saw a lot of armour from kings from centuries past-all things that I had only ever seen pictures of! I loved seeing all of the historic relics in real life, now when I read or teach about them, I can say that I have been there and seen them myself and that they definitely are real!
By the time we had walked through the Tower, we were footsore and tired, so went on a ferry back down the river to Westminster where we saw Cleopatra's Needle, the London Eye and the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship that the circumnavigated the globe in. Once at Westminster, we found the easily recognizable Big Ben attached the the Houses of Parliament as well as Westminster Abbey. This was another one of those awe inspiring places, seeing all of the tombs, plaques and headstones to great people who have shaped and influenced the world in so many ways, making it a better place for those who came before them because of their contributions to society. It was also fun to be at the place where the Royal Wedding was held last year!!
We have discovered that many things in London are fairly close together or in easy walking distance of each other, and from the Abbey, we walked to Buckingham Palace, via Trafalgar Square. Unfortunately I did not get to have tea with the Queen as I had dreamed of doing as a little girl(although she was at home while we were there), but I still enjoyed seeing the royal residence. We then walked around three sides of the palace grounds (it is a lot bigger than just what you see from the front!) towards Hyde Park and Kensington Park, which we walked through at a very brisk pace back to our hotel. By the end of this, we were both completely exhausted, sore and rather overwhelmed from absorbing all that we had seen and done! London truly is an amazing historic city from which so much of the world has been influenced.

Ambling Ramblings #5- Michigan Meanderings

After a week in Ohio, I ended up back in Michigan for a week with my 'second family' for more adventures. We went ice skating on the pond in the backyard, traipsing and frolicking with the dog in the snow, walking in the 'woodland' in the backyard, bowling (where I learned how to do it properly!) and did all kinds of other things. I came away with a nice big blue souvenir in the form of a bruise on my elbow-the result of a tickling war with my 'siblings'! I didn't want to leave when the time came, and will most certainly be back-hopefully in the fall/autumn as I imagine it would be beautiful at that time of year. Not that winter isn't beautiful-6 inches of snow covering everything is certainly picturesque and quite lovely, it's just cold, really, really cold and you can't do much outside or go many places as everything is shut and you have very limited daylight hours to do things in. I do like the cold and enjoy the snow, but I've seen it twice now on this side of the world, I just think next time i should definitely see a different season!

Ambling Ramblings #4: Patches of Sunshine

I have discovered the great pleasure that comes from curling up in a patch of sunshine on a comfortable bed, surrounded by a pile of blankets and pillows with a good book and a journal full of empty pages simply waiting to be written on. After Church yesterday it was time for a nap for everyone and my bed just so happens to fall in a patch of sunshine in the early afternoon so I curled up in it and read most of a historical fiction novel entitled 'To Have and To Hold' (which I would highly recommend as a novel well worth reading). 2 hours passed most pleasurably although my back had a few kinks in it from being curled up for so long!
There are many little footprints and other strange markings in the snow this morning from the squirrels who have been scampering about looking for food and chasing each other up and down the tree outside the kitchen window. It will definitely be a shock to the system to return to summertime weather on the other side of the world after becoming quite acclimatised to the snow and freezing weather. It can sometimes be deceiving to look out the window at the sun shining brightly but then realize that it is below freezing outside!

Ambling Ramblings #3-A Winter Wonderland

A breezy, snowy morning makes me very grateful for central heating, warm socks and the jumper (sweater) that Mum knitted for me!
The last 2 weeks have whizzed by, but have been full of fun and excitement. Being a part of a dear friend's wedding was a delightful experience and I loved every crazy minute of the preparation! The wedding was beautiful and it was 'warm' enough for us to get some photos outside.
My 'little brothers' in Michigan (I love having 'family' on all sides of the globe) have taken me out shooting in an effort to 'toughen' me up in preparation for a teaching career! I discovered that whilst I cannot shut one eye in order to aim, I can turn my left eye 'off' so that I can just focus through my right eye and hit 10/10 targets first try! Each day has been very busy (thus I haven't posted in a while) although I'm not sure what I've been busy doing!! I'm now a little bit further south than I was with more 'family' and having a marvelous time with old friends and meeting some new ones-I love being 'Auntie Naomi'!
I love how snow sits in the leaves of the bushes outside the window and fills the clefts in the tree branches. I saw 2 squirrels out the window yesterday as I was washing dishes :) They were scampering up and down a tree and chasing each other around in circles with their big busy tails swishing from side to side. I've also seen 2 deer, but not much other wildlife-I think it's all hibernating,which seems like an advisable thing to do-I may go and curl up with a book for a while and defrost my toes!