Michelle's Journey to USA, Middle East & Europe

August 31: Up early to head to Fatima - the most religious city in Portugal where Pilgrims come to visit.
A miracle happened here, so the story goes, in 1917. Since then, the main square, cathedral, chapel etc have been a very significant place of worship for the Catholics.
Many people approach the chapel on their knees from miles away, light candles at the holy site, and visit the tree near to where the miracle happened. Forgotten the exact story but it relates to the ¨Virgin¨appearing to three children and speaking to one of them, and that this happened again a month later... now the site is seen as holy. (I think this is the story. It wasn´t explained very well.)
Got to see the cathedral, only during mass time, so had to be brief. Bought postcards of what the massive square would look like when packed... it´s huge... maybe think of the square at the Vatican where the Pope appears... it´s similar to that.
On one side of this square there´s also a part of the Berlin Wall.

In Fatima, we then headed to a Port tasting place. Supposedly Port is only made in Portugal... makes sense, but didn´t know this. Tried a few, some okay, others too strong. Fun though.

We then spent the next few hours driving... across the border back to Spain, had a lunch stop... and slept along the way. Brought the clocks forward an hour too... I am now 8 hours behind Sydney, 1 ahead of London, 6 ahead of New York.

Arrived in Salamanca in the early evening. Had time to explore the main square (Plaza Mayor), Jesuit Church, House of Shells, the old and new cathedrals, and other significant streets and buildings before returning back to the hotel for dinner.

We then did a walking tour of the town, the lights on the town square, cathedral and main university building were spectacular. It´s a very nice place - it gets compared to Oxford and Cambridge in England.

Socialised at ¨Gatsby¨pub before heading home.

August 30: Today was spent in and around Lisboa (Lisbon). We first headed to the Belem district, which has several references to culture and the period of discoveries and world voyages made by Portuguese.

We visited Monateiro dos Jeronimos, an old church (or monastery, not sure), Torre de Belem (tower) and a few other monuments of which I don´t know their names. We also got a great view of the River Tagus (Rio Tejo) and the April 25 Bridge (which looks very much like the Golden Gate Bridge as is built by the same guy).

Our guided tour ended here except for those doing the afternoon optional excursion. We first drove to Sintra, about half an hour away. Sintra is a hilltop town where people used to come for holidays, including royals and the rich. I had a brief look inside Palacio Nacional de Sintro (a Palace), which had nice tiled walls, a mix between Moorish and Gothic architecture and stands out due to its tall double chimneys.

Here, the legend and significance of the rooster (cock) in regards to Portugal was explained. Bought some souvenirs, then headed onto Cascais (pronounced ¨Cash-ka¨).

Cascais is a town that used to be a fisherman´s village and is now a summer holiday destination/resort. Nice beaches and a coastline which faces onto the Atlantic Ocean.
Had time to relax here, wander and have lunch, before returning to Lisbon, with a scenic drive back.

Spent some time in town wandering around, buying some last minute souvenirs of Portugal, before returning to the hotel to relax, eat dinner and watch some of the US Tennis Open. Had an early night, very tired.

August 29: Up early this morning to make our way to Portugal. Very exciting, I´m in another country again!
Crossed over the border round lunchtime and over the very long suspension bridge over the Rio Tejo into Lisbon. Portgual is funnily enough an hour behind Spain and the same time as the UK - weird...

Checked into the hotel and got to have a whole afternoon to ourselves. I went with a few people to the castle, up on the hill - Castelo de Sao Jorge (Castle of St George). Great views of the city, got to see a video about the history of Lisbon too.

Walked around the main square Praca de Pedro IV and then the commercial streets and centre, Praca de Comercio. Can´t understand a word of Portuguese but trying to learn... I believe it´s similar to Spanish.

Decided to take another view of the city, from the top of Elevator de Santa Justa. It´s an experience just going up in the 100 year-old elevator...

Had an optional dinner tonight in the Barrio Alto area, where we got to experience the style of Fado singing/music. Very pleasant to the ear, but it´s meant to be sad, so I would possibly think twice about it if I understood what they were saying. The food was very good, so too hearing the 12-string guitar playing, unique to Portugal.

Portugal is like New York and has many burroughs. Hoping to see a few of them by the time I leave. Like Portugal... so far.

Very hot weather here ... hear the bushfires are slowly being put out.
Been keeping a close eye on the hurricane in the south-east of the USA too. The only English channels you get on TV at the hotels in Spain and Portugal are BBC and CNN... so trying to keep up on world news when I get the chance.

August 28: Did a guided tour of town in the morning after having our group photo outside Plaza de Espana, a building and plaza built for the 1929 World Expo held in Seville.

We got to hear about Flamenco, bull fighting, the history of Seville, Christopher Columbus; saw the lover´s gardens, former Jewish quarter, did a tour of the famous bullring, saw the museum with costumes and paintings of famous metadors and picadors, and walked around to the cathedral.

Had tapas for lunch with some tour mates, before doing a self-guided tour of the (very large) cathedral. Got to see Christopher Columbus´ tomb and monument, learnt about the various saints and altars, architecture and history of the building, before heading down to the river where I did a one hour cruise. This involved cruising up and down the river, with explanations about the various bridges and many buildings along the banks, built for the 1992 World Expo.

Headed to the hotel in the early evening - too hot to stay out in the sun, plus we´re staying a distance out of town, so this was out lift home.

August 27: We´re going to Gibraltar today - very excited!!!

Drove to Gibraltar in the morning. It only took about 90 minutes to get to the border control, but the line for that was huge. A little windy and hot, but great day.

Had to go through passport checks for both Spain and Britain before crossing the International Airport runway (now mostly used by the UK Navy) and into town.

Note: Gibraltar is part of the UK. It is governed by the British, the citizens are British and their currency is the Gibraltan Pound, equivalent to the British Pound Sterling. (Mind you, you can use Euros too.) Population is around 30,000.
A lot of people come to shop here as it´s tax free...

Most of us chose to do a taxi tour, which was a 6 person guided tour around the Rock of Gibraltar. We drove around the city wall before going to a viewing platform, where we got to see Africa (Morocco in fact)!
You can´t always see it due to the haze but we got a pretty good view today which was lucky. Couldn´t see the entire coastline but the mountains were spectacular - so too the view of Spain, ports and coastline surrounding Gibraltar.

We then went to St Michael´s Cave, a ´living´cave with stalactities and stalacmites... which they believe was created due to water seeping through the Rock. The acoustics are so good in there that they even hold concerts ... there´s concert seating too.

Further up the hill within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, we got to have a play with the local Barbary Apes. They climb on your head and arm if you so desire. Unfortunately though, one of our guys got pissed on. Funny to see, but thankfully it wasn´t me!
Saw two groups of the apes including many babies. (see photo, Africa is in the background)

In town, we had free time. I looked at some of the synagogues (from the outside as it was shabbat) - there´s around 600 chabad Jews there I believe - and did some brief shopping too. Met up with rest of the group at Casemate´s Gate.

When heading out of Gibraltar you have to get off the bus and present all your belongings, not just what you purchased there... strange, but necessary I guess. Some of our guys got check for alcohol and perfume, but no one was in trouble.

Great experience visiting Gibraltar, would have been nice if it was longer!

We then drove north to the fourth largest city of Spain, Seville.
Some people went swimming in the hotel pool, I ran a few errands. We´re staying quite a distance out of town so we couldn´t do any exploration this afternoon unfortunately.

In the evening, we drove into town to have a yummy dinner and to watch a Flamenco Show. I loved the costumes and guys dancing the most, but also enjoyed watching the women´s expressions while dancing the various styles and their playing of castenettes. They also re-enacted the musical, Carmen, which was well done.
Had an individual photo of me taken there, turned out to be really good, so I bought it! Will have to show you...

Despite being a Saturday night, most people bar 8 were so tired, we all headed home.

Seville is known for many things including Flamenco, Bull fighting, Christopher Columbus and bridges, and more. Like it so far, hopefully I´ll get to see more tomorrow.

August 26: Today was a free day to do whatever!
Most people had a big night last night (including me), and spent the morning recovering and the afternoon at the beach. It´s at least 40 degrees here every day, very dry heat too.
Mind you today was a little hazy.

I on the other hand, went to Malaga for most of the day with some other tour mates.

Got to see the house where Pablo Picasso was born, the cathedral, local buildings, Alcazaba (former Muslim palace) and the Castillo Gibralfaro which used to be a fortress and has amazing views of the city. We could also see the bullring... spectacular sight of it, and the coastline too.

Went into Torremolinos this afternoon to walk along the beach promenade. Lots of people swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. I went swimming in the hotel pool yesterday afternoon, so didn´t really feel like getting wet again today (and washing the hair), but I was so hot I could have done with the cool down.

Had dinner with 12 other tourmates at a Chinese restaurant in town (free night). Great having something different to eat - it was yummy too.

Kept a low key, early night.

*** note: photo is from inside the Alhambra, from yesterday (day 90) ***

August 25:
Not getting much time at a computer so the next few days has lots more to come...!

Did a walking tour in the morning to see a view of Granada city, monastery and the royal chapel in town where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are buried.

Had time on our own to do some errands and explore the city before driving to the Costa del Sol. This area of Spain is a tourist resort. Full of lots of wealthy people, British, tourists and more. Long strip of beach / coastline... very beautiful.

Unfortunately had a small bout of food poisoning this afternoon, but all good a couple of hours later. Not sure what it was from.

Relaxed in the hotel, swam in the pool in the afternoon sun.

Had dinner at a seafood restaurant by the water... nice food but couldn´t have most of the specialty dishes. Danced the night away at a local club, Beer Keller.

August 24: Still having a great time and loving the architecture and culture. The people are friendly too.
Did a walking tour of the city this morning - walked around the city wall, Maimonides Square (influential Jewish man, commented on Jewish writings, started Kabballah in many ways too - I think), the river, old city gate and Mesquita (old Mosque now a church), very spectacular - interesting architecture (see photo). Also paid a visit to the Alcazar and the beautiful gardens there.
Had a brief walk around the Jewish quarter and visited another synagague in my free time.

Arrived in the Granada in the early afternoon, where we headed straight to the Alhambra (old fortress and palace from the 13-15th centuries when the Muslims ruled the country) to do a guided tour. Very beautiful.

Dinner in the hotel before heading out to experience the nightlife... and that was amazing too!
We ended up going to a bar underneath the bullring. They happened to have salsa dancing (classes) on that night, and it was loads of fun. Cuban instructor, lots of spanish guys, then continued to practise with guys from our tour. Dancing among ourselves however was more frequent as the night wore on. Great feeling doing salsa in Spain under a bullring!

August 23: Woke up with a sore ankle, so it´s now all strapped up and bandaged.
Met my roommate, Belinda, from Newcastle, 34 years.
Early morning start out of Madrid where we drove for an hour to Toledo.
Met my tour manager, Raquel (from NZ) and our driver, Juan (from Spain). Very nice people.
The other tourmates are very mixed in ages, ethnic backgrounds, age and country - mainly USA, Canada (!) and Australia, with two from Japan - seem nice too.

Didn´t know what to expect with any of Spain´s cities and am being nicely surprised. Can´t speak a word of Spanish, but realised it´s a little similar to French, so muddling through. It´s a challenge (especially asking for no dairy, shellfish or pork at meal times) ... but lots of fun!

In Toledo (see photo), we walked around the Alcazar (fortress) and cathedral before having time to ourself to explore. It´s fun getting lost in these small towns. The cathedral was very impressive, saw the famous El Greco painting "El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz" inside the church, Iglesia de Santo Tome.
Also paid a visit to the two synagogues (and Jewish quarter). Never actually realised how much Jewish history there really is in Spain. Learnt about it at school, but wasn´t aware of its prominence in Spain´s history overall.
One synagogue was from the 13th century, with a museum about Spanish Sefardi Jewish history and artefacts (Sinagoga del Transito). The other one, Sinagoga Santa Maria La Blanca dates from the 12th century, and was later on in time converted into a church. Neither are used today for services of any kind.

Had lunch before jumping back on the bus to drive south to Cordoba. Did our ´introductions´ on this leg too. Did some shopping at "Zara" before having dinner in the hotel and grabbing a drink in a bar later on. Great nightlife.

One interesting point... Spain has a different day schedule... including a siesta in the afternoon, dinner not till at least 9pm and partying starts no earlier than 11pm (even during the week). When do they ever sleep properly?

August 22: Did a few errands in the morning before making my way out to Dublin airport. The flight to Madrid was only two hours, and catching a taxi from the airport to my hotel just out of town was easy.
Very hot in Madrid.

Unfortunately we had to walk down some stairs onto the tarmac when we arrived in Madrid, and I fell down the stairs coming out of the aeroplane, with all my hand luggage in my hand too! Rolled my bad ankle, so it´s a little sore... hopefully I will be able to get some ice from my hotel later tonight :-(

Missed my pre-tour departure meeting tonight, which I knew I´d miss... looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow and conquering Spain and Portugal. I´ll be doing another (this) Contiki tour for the next 13 days... should be fun!

August 21: Drove back to Dublin in the morning. Then did a tour of Trinity College (aka University of Dublin). Had a guide explain to us the history and architecture of the college, before seeing an exhibition about the Book of Kells (and the series of Books found). The Book of Kells is a 12th century manuscript which illustrates and explains the four gospels (new testament/ biblical texts). Reminded me of the ¨Dead Sea Scrolls¨.
Also got to see the Long Room with famous books in cabinets, such as theories of Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Isaac Newton and more.

Then did some last-minute shopping along O'Connell St, River Liffey, paid a quick visit to the Garden of Rememberance and General Post Office where the 1916 uprising occurred (this is when Ireland got its independence), St Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church and Dublin Castle.

Had a final night farewell dinner at a restaurant just out of town. It included a three-course meal as well as Irish folk dancing and music. I even got called up on stage - received a t-shirt for my efforts.
Spent the remainder of the night in the pub below our hotel, chilling with everyone, and saying our goodbyes.

Re Ireland:
Was hoping to see ¨Riverdance¨perform some time, but they´re not doing shows on Sun and Mon the two nights I´m here. Didn´t get to catch a hurling or gaelic football match either... but at least I´ve got to hear lots of U2 ... and was able to find ¨Baileys Irish Cream¨which says MADE IN IRELAND on the bottle!

Had a great time... now onto Spain!

August 20: Discovered there ísn´t much to see in Galway, and decided not to do the optional excursion to do a ropes course, boat ride in a fiord and drive around the Connemarra region and Kylemore Abbey. Sounds like it was fun... instead I went to the Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands. Caught a ferry from Roosevaal on the way there (about 1 hour out of Galway), which didn´t take very long, and caught the direct ferry back to Galway later in the afternoon (90 mins).

During my short stay on the island, I saw Don Aonghasa (Don Angus), a 4,000 year old fortress with three outer walls still standing. The view from the cliffs there is also spectacular - a 600 foot drop straight down to the ocean below. The scenery is very green with stones everywhere. Didn´t get to see the puffing holes or seals in the beach area as it was the wrong time of day and year. Did however get to see the ¨Seven Churches¨- one site, where seven buildings once stood. Now there´s remains of a church, chapel, few houses and a cemetery.
Nice day, had three other people from the tour come with me.

Tried doing some last minute shopping when I returned to town, but most things were closed. Was particularly looking for a ´Klata´ring... will see if I can get one in Dublin, even though they are most well-known in this region.

Nothing much happened in the evening.
Still not feeling well, had an early night.

August 19: My tour of Ireland is almost over, but having lots of fun.
Heading this morning for a coastal drive, over the Shannon River (salmon in there are meant to be the 'fountain of knowledge') via car ferry, before stopping at Lihunch Beach for lunch.

Walked around the Cliffs of Moher lookout points, including climbing O'Briens Tower. The cliffs are up to 600 feet tall - reminds me of the 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road in Australia.

Then drove through the Burren region which looks like small moon craters - rocks everywhere. It's fairy region too... so we put stones on the triangular pyramids of rocks, and said 'Slancher' for good luck.

More driving until we reached Galway. Our tour group is split up across 10 Bed & Breakfasts outside town for the next two nights. Nothing wonderful, but ce la vie!

Headed into town in the early evening. Had a brief look at the Docks, Eyre Square, St Nicholas Church, Corrib River and Spanish Arch, main streets (William, Shop and Quay Streets) adn then had a quick bite to eat before meeting everyone at the King´s Head pub for a drink. Great band played later in the night, playing local music and covers... lots of fun.

August 18: Still sick, but trying to take care of myself.
Beautiful weather today, long day, lots of driving.

Our first stop was at Blarney Castle. There we kissed the Blarney Stone (had to lie down and get pushed down the wall to kiss it - hard to explain)... so now I must have the gift of the gab (if i didn't already!). Also walked down the Wishing Steps backwards so now my wishes are meant to come true too.

Never knew the Irish were so superstitious! Kissing stones, walking down stairs backwards, looking for leprocauns!

The Castle gardens were very pretty and lots to see.

Then drove for a while to Kenmare for a quick lunch stop at a pretty town along the way.

Another long drive along the "Ring of Kerry" region, through the Killarney National Park and passed a few lakes. Very pretty scenery (green mountains, paddocks, cute houses, lakes), did a few photo stops along the way. Leprocaun (and fairy) country too :-)

Had a group photo and horse and cart ride through the Killarney National Park and got to have a brief look at the Muckross Abbey as well.

Another long drive along the coast to see "Inch Beach" known for its surfing (even though the waves weren't very big) and to Dingle, another sweet town... before returning to Killarney to call it a night.

Had dinner in the hotel, then went to an internet cafe, before heading to the local Grand Hotel for some Irish folk music and then nightclub dancing.
Long day, we're all very tired.

August 17: Little rainy and cold today. First stop was at the 'Rock of Cashel' - where we had a look around at the castle ruins - the 12th century chapel, 13th century cathedral, round tower and graveyard too. Cashel is known as being one of the oldest medieval castles/ruins still standing in Ireland.

Then drove to Midleton to do a tour of the Jameson Irish Whisky distillery. Got to see the equipment, learn about the process and how Irish whisky is distilled three times (unlike scotch which is twice and bourbon which is once), and how it's different to other alcohols. Got to taste it too but it didn't tickle my fancy.

In the afternoon, we saw Cove (also known as Cobh (Irish name) or Queenstown). This town was the last place the Titanic docked before it sank in the Atlantic Ocean. A heritage centre presented this information in an exhibition, as well as the topics of the potato famine, the huge wave of emigration to countries like USA, Canada and South Africa and how a huge number of convicts were sent to Australia. There was also a mention of the Lusitania cruise liner ship which left Cove and was then bombed by a German torpedo during WWI with all passengers dying.
Momument of these events were also evident in the main square of town.

We had some spare time to look around Cork (3rd largest city in Ireland) in the early evening, where we were staying for the night. Most of us did errands more than anything else. Our hotel was very nice, so most of us had an early night and chilled in the hotel, in anticipation of a long day tomorrow.

August 16: Had an interview this morning for a role working at the Australian Open tennis next year, so was up early for that. Otherwise, this morning was actually meant to be a sleep-in! Doesn't matter...
Feeling a little tired and sick, but soldiering on.

First this morning, we visited Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. Did a tour of the site, learnt about the 1916 uprising, the many prisoners housed there, and also the famous executions...

Then headed to the Guinness Storehouse to learn about Ireland's most famous beer/stout. Did a tour of the exhibition centre including learning about how Guinness is made, Arthur Guinness and the history of the brewery, as well as getting to see an art exhibition on John Gilroy who designed many of the advertisements, and memorabilia associated with various campaigns over the years. Remember the ostrich, sea lion, turtle, kangaroo, toucan...?
Did you know... that the Guinness Book of Records was started by Guinness brewery owners/workers? Interesting fact I think.

From the top of the Guinness factory, seven storeys up, you get a great panoramic view of Dublin city. You also get served a pint of beer. I didn't want one, so I had a small taste of someone else's, but still got the photos!

Later on, we drove to Kilkenny. Did some introductions on the bus to meet our new tour mates too. We picked up 19 more in Dublin last night, so there's 34 of us, 15 who also did the UK. There's a huge contingent from Canada, USA and Aussies of course. There's also a person from Italy, New Zealand, Austria, Netherlands and Barbados. Very diverse.

In Kilkenny, we did a short walking tour around town, taking in the castle (breifly), as well as historic buildings and the main cathedral.

The evening was a free night to explore town and relax. I met up with a friend, Con, that lives near to here, that did the New Zealand Contiki tour with me a few months ago. Went to a really yummy restaurant, before heading to Langton's pub to meet the rest of the group.
Wasn't feeling too well, so didn't have a late night.

August 15: Three countries in one day is all I have to say!

No really... we were in Liverpool this morning, spent most of the day in Wales, and now I'm in Dublin.

Our first stop this morning was Chester - a small town in England, known for its Roman past. We did a walking tour around town where we got to see some of the ruins, the city wall, the river, and old houses from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries... before doing some last minute errands in our free time. Didn't have time to see the famous clock on the east gate of the city wall, but bought a postcard of it instead.

Llandudno in Wales is where we had lunch. It's a seaside town with beautiful buildings and a nice shoreline. This is also where we had to say goodbye to the 14 people returning to London today, who got picked up by another Contiki tour that just returned from Ireland.

Interesting to see how the street signs and information boards are all in Welsh as well as English!

In the afternoon, we saw Conwy Castle (interesting, from King Edward I's time... great views from the top too), and did a quick visit of the town known for having the longest name in the world! Its name is really long, so won't spell it here... but just take my word for it.

Wales is very scenic.

Had a short drive to the port of Holyhead where we caught our ferry across the Irish Sea. The journey was only two hours, the bus came with us.

Arrived in Dublin (Republic of Ireland) at 9pm, so haven't got to see any of it yet. I think we see some of it tomorrow, or when we come back here in a week's time.

Tonight, we also get to meet the other 20 people who do the Ireland 8-day part of our tour with us.

Other notes:
Saw that Australia thankfully drew the third Ashes test against England and the Logan Greg won Big Brother 2005 in Australia... I liked him, so I'm happy. (Mind you I really didn't get to see much of the series on TV at all.)

August 14: Lots of driving today, but nice scenery and good weather.
Stopped at Gretna Green for a mock wedding (the couple that got engaged on Friday were our bridge and groom) and group photo. Here is where young couples came from England to get married, as the legal age in England was 21 in those days, whereas it was only 16 in Scotland. So couples wanting to get married under the age of 21, would flee England and come to Gretna Green (just over the border) and be married by the local blacksmith.

We then had a few stops before travelling back into England to Liverpool. Had a different bus driver today, as today is our driver, Danny's, day off. It's even illegal for him to be on the coach with us - so he caught a taxi instead.

Did a very interesting Beatles tour around Liverpool in the early afternoon - saw the homes where all four Beatles (John, Paul, Ringo and George) grew up, Strawberry Field, Penny Lane, and other interesting sites too. We also got to listen to their songs while driving along. The local guide was very good. She even took us passed the docks and notable buildings in Liverpool.

In the evening, we had a drink and listened to some live music at the Cavern Club (where many bands including the Beatles got their break), followed by a yummy 'farewell' dinner - for those people returning to London, and not continuing onto Ireland.

Saw that a plane crashed in Greece today and killed all 121 people on board... very sad.

Also saw that Australia lost the Bledisloe Cup :-( and the Swans are travelling well in the AFL this season!

August 13: Okay, so we're still in Scotland, and I'm still loving it!
This morning we went to the banks of Loch Ness in search of the monster (and to take photos too), but no sightings of it. Instead we bought souvenirs at the massive shop at Drummond Drochit (including a 'Nessie' toy).
Drove passed Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, but due to the thick fog, it was hard to see it.
Had lunch at Fort William before doing a cruise on Lake Lochmond. Very picturesque, lots of green mountains/hills. Unfortunately though, it rained the entire time.

(It's been raining a lot on and off the last two days.)

Arrived in Glasgow in the early evening, to take on the town for a walkabout dinner, then conquered a local club. Didn't get to see any of Glasgow other than the nightlife unfortunately...

August 12: Today was a very good day, but lots of rain and very cold!
Our tour manager decided to take us on a surprise visit to St Andrews - the home of golf - not usually on the itinerary. This is where Tiger Woods won the British (golf) Open a few weeks ago!
Got to see the old and new clubhouses, the castle, cathedral and abbey ruins, the cemetery and also the grave of one of the founders of golf, Tommy Morris. The beach where "Chariots of Fire" was filmed is also here.
Had a few putts of golf on the green, took lots of photos, and did a quick visit of the British Golf Museum. Great morning!

After having lunch at a small town (Braemar) along the way, we went to the Glenlivet scotch whisky distillery. Saw the warehouse and tasted some whisky... wasn't a fan of the taste, but supposedly it's really popular. (Did you know?... For a whisky to be declared scotch whisky it has to have been housed in a warehouse in Scotland for a minimum of three years!)

The scenery has changed quite noticeably. It's now very hilly, with lots of lush green paddocks, with sheep, a few Scottish Highland cattle, and even big mountains... hence the 'Highlands'.

Arrived at our hotel in the early evening, got to have a relaxing swim in the indoor pool, after a long day's driving. Yummy dinner at the hotel, before chilling at a local pub.

One of the couple's on our tour got engaged tonight - ooh, how sweet!

August 11: Happy Birthday Mum!
With a friend of mine from the tour, Jen, we hiked up Arthur's Seat this morning. And boy, was it a hike! Great view of the city from the top of the mountain, but lots of sweating getting up there!
Took a walk passed the new Scottish Parliament building, before doing a tour of the Holyrood Palace (a residence for the Royal Family when they're in town and where the Scottish Royal Family, including Mary Queen of Scots lived).
Walked the Royal Mile from the Palace to Edinburgh Castle... where I got a real taste for the Edinburgh and Fringe Festivals currently on, during the entire month of August. Lots of street performers advertising their plays too.

Did a tour of the Castle. Checked out the War Memorial there for the Scottish soldiers who'd died in all previous wars (very interesting), St Margaret's Chapel, the Scottish Crown Jewels, Stone of Destiny (which is used for royal coronations, even nowadays), the Dining Hall, Great Hall and State Apartments, and even the tiny room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James I.
The museum about the Royal Scots (military regiment) was good, so too, my first taste of scones with jam in the UK!
Later in the afternoon, I also did a quick walk around Princes St Gardens (formerly a lake).

In the evening, we had a very lovely meal, where we were entertained by a piper afterwards. He told us all about bagpipes, the music, the Scottish traditional dress, and played songs for us too on a variety of bagpipes - great evening.
Partied later at the bar/club under our hotel.

Love Edinburgh!

August 10: Stayed up last nigt watching re-runs of the last few episodes of the last series of Sex and the City, including the final one, so didn't get much sleep. (They were on the BBC.)
Got a great sleep on the bus today though!

Stopped at Hadrian's Wall to see the wall and remians of the fortress from around 125 CE, before crossing the border to Scotland. Lots of lush green paddocks with different breeds of sheep along the way.
Took lots of photos on the border - I'm in Scotland!
Had lunch at Jedburgh, a bordertown, before driving to Edinburgh and having free time in the afternoon before dinner.

Did a tour of "The Real Mary King's Close" - a series of closes (streets) under the city chambers and Royal Mile of Edinburgh from hundreds of years ago, where people used to live. Very interesting.

After a very average dinner at our hotel, 40 of us went to see the Edinburgh Military Tatoo at forecourt of the Castle! Contiki managed to get the tickets for us, which turned out to be great seats. The Castle is nowhere near as big as it looks on TV, but with me being a closet big band and bagpipes fan, I loved it. Not as long as I expected but very much a great experience.

August 9: Happy Birthday Nathan (my brother)!
Another nice day's weather.
Left Oxford and was in York by lunchtime. Dean gave us a brief history lesson on England along the way, including a little about the Romans and Vikings in York.
Heard our day song for the first time too but forgotten its name already...
Did a walking tour through York and saw the York Minster, Parliament St (main street), The Shambles (an old street with very old black and white traditional buildings), and Clifford's Tower.
Separately in our free time, I went with two others, up Clifford's Tower to get a great city view and to learn about how 150 Jews committed suicide in this tower in 1190 due to the antisemitic uprising going on. This tower is actually part of the original castle that once stood.
Went inside the York Minster, the largest (Gothic) cathedral in Northern Europe. Very big, very spectacular, lots of beautiful stain-glass windows. Went downstairs and saw the crypt, treasures of the Church of York and the layers of churches that previously stood on this site during the Roman and Norman times.
Took a walk along the old city wall from Bootham Bar (bar means gate) to the Monk Bar. Simple but fun. Overlooked Dean's Gardens too.
Checked into the hotel in the early evening before embarking on another group dinner at a pub nearby.
I am meant to be sharing rooms with someone but supposedly don't get them till Scotland, so have had my own room the last 2 nights and do again today. Sweet!

Most of us then did the Ghost Tour walk this evening. Didn't see any ghosts, but heard a lot of interesting stories about how people have seen ghosts in York and where they can be found. The question: do you believe...?

Went clubbing at Reflex club, known for it's 80s music afterwards.

Great to see that the NASA Discovery Shuttle landed safely in California.

August 8: Blue sky, sun shining - at least I know the sun can exist in England, even if it's not seen all that often!
Met up with my Contiki tour this morning - tour manager is Dean (Aussie), Danny (NZ) is our driver. There's 29 of us doing the tour at the moment, but we supposedly pick up 13 more in Scotland... then lose a good few before heading to Ireland and picking up some more. My tour lasts 15 days - very excited!
Only 6 guys out of the 29 of us... most people are Aussies, with a few Canadians, Americans, one from NZ, one from Singapore, and one from India who's been living in England for 10 years. Nice bunch of people.
To my surprise, they weighed our luggage before we boarded the bus but I managed to sweet talk my way out of mine being too heavy as I'm doing a number of Contiki tours and have 7 weeks luggage on me!

We did a brief orientation tour of London from the bus (including Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, St Paul's Basillica, BBC, Aussie Embassy and more) before heading out of town.

The drive to Windsor was only an hour or so. Had a walk down to Eton to see the famous College where Prince Harry and William studied, and saw the castle for a second time (here a few years ago). Loved Queen Mary's Doll House, State Apartments and also seeing the guard changing ceremony. The royal family has a very nice home here, full of riches, beautiful tapestries, armoury and more.

We then headed onto Oxford, where we did a guided tour through town. Got to see Oxford University's Church of the St Mary the Virgin, their library, Cornmarket St, Ratcliffe Camera (walked passed the Sheldonian Theatre where they hold graduations but ran out of time to go inside) and went into the Woddam College grounds.
On my own, I saw Merton College, one of the oldest in Oxford, and also Chirst Church College - the college upon which Harry Potter's (movie) dining hall is based, and where other scenes have been filmed. Very excited to get in here as last time I came it was closed. Today it was closed for filming by a Japanese documentary in the morning, but opened in the late afternoon!
Saw the dining hall with pictures of Alice in Wonderland in its stain-glass windows and many portraits of famous people, the main quadrangle (Tom Quad), the cathedral and more. Great experience. Also saw the 'no peel' door - explain another time.
Interesting to learn that Oxford time is traditionally 5 minutes later than London. Explain that one another time too :-)

Checked into the hotel and had a group dinner for the first night of our tour. Looks like roasts and puddings are the norm in England!
Early night.

August 7: Not too cold today, spent the morning sorting through my entire luggage to work out what I will need with me over the next 6 weeks, as I'll be leaving my other bag at Luke's while in the UK, Spain and New York.
Saw that England won the 2nd Ashes test, held in Edgbaston, Birmingham. We were attempting to go to the test match (cricket) yesterday, but couldn't find any tickets cheaper than a few hundred dollars, hence we didn't go. Turned out to be a great match, but will have to try to see an Ashes test another time.
Caught the Virgin train to London, took a couple of hours.
After checking into my hotel for the night, I had a quick walk around my area - Tottenham Court Rd, Oxford St, and the dreaded Russel Square and Tavistock Square (bus bombed recently).
Met up with an old friend from Sydney, James Ingram, who is now working over here. Turned out to be a huge reunion in a pub (in Notting Hill) with other people from Sydney, including someone I did my undergraduate degree with - what a small world!
Great night!

August 6: A nice sleep in, and a comfortable bed! Luke's place is very nice and homely too.
Got to see the chiro practice Luke works at in the morning before heading to the local shops to run some errands, including getting a mobile phone and UK number to get me by while in Europe!
Saw the movie, "Skeleton Key" with Luke in the evening, not as scary as advertised. Low key evening.
Nice hanging with a friend from home.

August 5: So today was a long day!
Left Athens at 2am to fly to Tel Aviv, Israel. Grabbed some sleep on the 2 hour flight, before going to my relatives' place in Hod Hasharon for a proper nap.
Caught up with them briefly over lunch, before returning to Tel Aviv to pick up a bag I had left in storage at the hotel I stayed at 2 weeks ago, then onto the airport.
In the late afternoon, I headed off to London, grabbed some more sleep on the flight, and then headed off to Birmingham by coach, to stay with my Melbourne friend, Luke, who's working there at the moment.
Finally arrived in Birmingham after midnight, but with a smiling face waiting to pick me up!
Had a nice chat, catching up on the last 6 months... before crashing to sleep.

August 4: This morning was very relaxed, making our way down to the port to catch the hydrofoil back to Athens. We were meant to catch the slow ferry which takes 8 hours, but our tour manager was able to change the tickets so that we only had a 3 1/2 hour journey - much better!
Another hot summer's day in the Greek Islands. Most of us slept on the ferry ride back to the mainland, despite the air conditioning not working!
Most of the people from the tour attended a final night dinner, before saying farewell at Matrix bar over a few drinks. I was the first to leave, with an early morning flight out of Athens.
Said my farewells during the course of the evening.
Greece - done; time to conquer the UK!

August 3: My last real free day in the Greek Islands was spent relaxing! Shopped in town for a little, spent time on the internet, including buying tickets to the US Tennis Open (looks like I managed to get tickets to the last day - men's singles final, and women's doubles final - needs to be confirmed)... which will be very exciting.
Chilled down at the village in the late afternoon before returning back to the hotel to do last minute paperwork and spent time with the group.
Had dinner down at the village - beef steak, nice having a change!
Drinks at the Fun Pub as usual, followed by dancing at Flames and Rehab nightclubs.

Tomorrow we return by ferry to Athens, and have a last night dinner together... time to say goodbye to Greece!

August 2: Sun is still shining, not a cloud in the sky, same weather every day - very hot too!
Today, I went on an optional excursion - one of my best days in the Greek islands.
Down at the port, we boarded a pirate ship... about 25 metres in length. We travelled around various parts of the island, saw many secluded beaches and spent lots of time in the water!
The guys dived off the top of the boat into the clear blue sea - the Agean Sea in fact - while I chose to only get in the water when it was time to swim to shore for lunch. Some people headed to the shore by dinghy... but with water as good as what I saw, I couldn't help myself. Very refreshing, very clear, very blue.
Did some snorkelling too, but there wasn't much to see. Supposedly the Agean Sea doesn't have many fish as there's no reef, hence no sharks or other marine life too. The number of fish was minimal, but it was still fun... especially seeing the sea bed only about 10 metres below (white sand at Ios).
On the secluded beach, we played cricket, had a yummy pre-pared lunch and sunbaked... before swimming back to shore, and sailing back to the port.
Great day, a nice way to end the tour.
In the evening, we ate dinner in town at Ali Baba, a restaurant which served non-Greek food - we were all delighted! Indian, Thai, Chinese food...
I entered the pool comp at the Fun Pub, and came a respectable 9th out of 18 people, before calling it a night. The rest of the gang went partying at "Rehab" nightclub till all hours of the morning.

August 1: Relaxed in the morning before heading down to the port to catch our 45 minute ferry ride to Ios, another island. Staying at the Far Out Village hotel... about a five minute walk down to the beach, the pools, bar and the party zone, where everything happens, other than in town.
Chilled by the pool before returning to the hotel, to meet the group for an included dinner, which happened to be back down at the Village.
In the evening, we went to "The Fun Pub" in town for a few drinks - lots of fun there as the name states - before going to "Blue Note" for a dance.