I set this up so that everyone can keep track of me on my travels. Hope you enjoy reading.

Friday, June 29, 2007

*pats self on back*

Well, I have finished teaching in Bristol. I move tomorrow. I only did an afternoon today, in a horrible school, with 1 child I had to get the head to deal with. But it was another new school, so that makes it my 50th school/nursery I have taught in during the last 10 months of being in Bristol. I tried to do some basic calculations, and I figure if I take average class size, and the fact some of those schools I have taught in 5 or 6 different classes, it is probably more than 1500 children I have taught over this time! That's a LOT of children!
I left a book behind at one of the schools, and Select rang me and said could I come in and get it this afternoon. I didn't feel the finality of it, because I wasn't in the same schools with friends and connections for the whole time, so no sense of missing them. However when I got to Select Iain (my go to guy) presented me with a bottle of wine (I know, but it was a nice thought) and a card signed by everyone. He then went on to say he appreciated everything I had done for them this year, and I would be missed (at which point one of the girls who worked there chimed in "Very much so") and he went on to say that several of the schools are already complaining that I am not going to be around anymore. He also said that if I wanted to come back again later to get in touch with them and he could organise sponsorship (which I don't need as I'm British passport-wise) and he said he could get me a job in a school in a heartbeat, and a couple of the schools have already asked for me full-time. So that was nice to hear. And the school I was at on wed/thurs I was talking to the school secretary who said she was going to meet Iain finally as he was coming out that way, she also went on to say when she didn't recognise my name, he sang my praises to her. So that's very nice to here. That's my pat on the back.
I am all packed, pretty much, I am getting my bond back (assuming the room doesn't self-destruct over night) at midday tomorrow, then its bye bye Bristol and Hello Kettering. It still hasn't really hit me how fast things are coming to a close. I have been kind of numb, I think because if I absorb it all I might just become a gibbering mess. I need to go away again. I haven't gone to another country for a month, and I feel bored! Sure I have been to the Lake District for a weekend, and on a Cotswold's tour, but its not the same. I'm still hoping to get to Scotland. Might try and do North Wales too. Man I have the travel bug! My newest crazy hair brain scheme is to get a motor home and me and Ernie travel around Australia teaching in off the beaten track towns through the agency!
Ok, well, I should finish off my last bit of packing and sorting, so I'm ready to load the car tomorrow and flee Bristol.
Oh... and for those who questioned a bunny roundabout.... I managed to get a foto of it... its not great, cos it's hard to take a foto and drive. I tried getting out and walking back to it, but its a big 2 lane roundabout and I couldn't get close enough to it. Its not VERY obvious cos I didn't want to scare them off, so there are red circles around the 4 bunnies....

Sunday, June 24, 2007

ITS TOO EARLY!!!!!

I had a horribly disturbing event occur today... I was brushing my hair in front of the mirror today, when I saw it, sitting there, mocking me, a short, but obviously grey hair. So i pulled it out, and had a bit of a hunt, and in the bit i could see, found 5 more! That's SIX grey hairs! I'm not even 27 yet (July 22nd, will accept both Australian and English money! JUST KIDDING) and I have at least 6 grey hairs! I am going to sue the Bristol education system for doing this to me! All the feral children have made me go grey! *sob*
Anyways, moving along, I went up to my Aunt's this weekend for dropping off some of my many many things to take back. I ended up going out Saturday night with my cousins to one of their friend's places where they were having a bit of a BBQ gathering. It was a good night, in a proper English farm house on a working farm, with tennis courts and stuff! Lah DI dah! God home around midnight. Then today bludged around a bit and then we (Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and I) went out to the pub for a good old Sunday roast. Mmmm. Can't beat a good roast with a Yorkshire pud!
Then I drove home in the on again off again rain we have been having for the last 3 or 4 days and I just put a load of washing on. Its all go go go with me! heheh. I am embarking on my last week in Bristol tomorrow. That means this week will have a lot of LASTS in it for me...
#1- Last band rehearsal
#2- Last time in my shoebox bedroom in my house of men
#3- Last contact with Select and the lovely people at the office there
#4- Last days teaching the little grey hair causing ferals
#5- Last time going round the bunny roundabout
#6- Last time shopping at the local Tesco that has fed me for the last 10 months
#7- Last time having to fight my way across the middle of Bristol to get to work in the morning
#8- Last time making the drive up to my aunt's place from here
#9- Last time listening to the good old Bristol accent
#10- Last time I will see my housemates

Next time I make a post I will be up at my new temporary home for the last month of my stay here... So farewell from Bristol.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

emotional overload!

I have had a rubbish week. I had 2 days at work on Monday and Tuesday at a school in Swindon, which was a lively year 6 class. I went Monday and had to say if I would go back on Tuesday. I told them this, and they all said "why would u come back? no one ever does cos we are horrible!" to which I responded "no, compared to what I'm used to, you are a great class!". Then Wednesday I had HORRIBLE.....HORRIBLE class in St Paul which was year 6 again. They were awful, and the support teacher who is great with them was away, so it was just me, and they were so loud that twice I had teachers from nearby classes come in and pull children out cos they could hear the chaos. They were better in the afternoon, cos they got a lecture from their normal teacher, who was there but doing other stuff, and then we played some games and they had PE. Its amazing, a class that was so horrible inside the classroom and all fought constantly went to play football and were so supportive and such a great team atmosphere. Why can't they do that inside the class?
Then on the way back in there was a full scale riot and I just lost all control of them and their teacher came from the other side of the school, where she could hear them, to deal with them. ARGH! And it was such a bad reflection on the last 2 hours. I left there fighting the urge to cry. It wasn't just the school, it was also the fact that I have so much other stuff going on through my head.
I am glad that my time is coming to a close, because I have had such a chaotic year, and for someone who is such a planner, to the point I booked my ticket to come over 8months before I left, the last minute-ness of this last year work and travel wise has been chaos. I am also going to miss it, because I have had such an amazing year. I am looking forward to going home because I have missed family/friends/dog but I am going to miss the family from over here I have gotten to know better. I am also nervous about going back and starting afresh because I don't want to rush into a job, and the options are endless, so yeah. Its all getting a bit much for my brain to handle, as I am drawn with excitement and sadness, and I have to work with feral children who push me over the edge!
And the worst thing is... I have to go back to the HORRIBLE school again tomorrow. My school today was a good one, for me. They were a bit loud, and I had one argument about seat swapping and one or two whinges, but they did some great work. It was just for this afternoon, and was a fair way out, but I was told they asked me because they had just signed this school and wanted to make a good impression so they wanted to send a good teacher. That was nice to hear, that they considered me a good teacher.
I haven't been anywhere, and am off to my Aunt's this weekend to drop off some more of my stuff, because I have realised that I can't fit it in my car all in one go. So that's the highlight of my week. Not a lot else to bang on about now, so I will find something else to do now. Ciao.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail

Well, I finally have time to write about last weekend's adventures in the lake district.
8/6- I drove up on friday after 1/2 a day working at my favourite school in the morning. The drive took me from 1pm to 6.30pm and was a crawl from Bristol to Blackpool, with an average speed of about 20mph, when the limit is 70. Many times we actually ground to a halt! So, when I finally got to my B&B I was staying in in Keswick I checked in then I got shown a route to the nearest lake, which I walked down to and sat there for a while watching the sun glinting on the water. (Side note: luckily someone else said the name of the town first, as I would have embarrassed myself calling it kes-wick when it is pronounced kessick). It was so unspoilt and picturesque. I noticed that about the whole of the area, there was almost no trash just left anywhere, it was looked after, cared for, despite the number of tourists going through.
Then I went back to my room and fell fast asleep.
9/6- The next morning I went down for my brekky, met Merlin, the resident dog, and got shown a walk of the easiest Fell. This is what they call the many mountains they have up there... fells. The local one, and a reasonable small one was Latrigg. The guide said it was walking 6 miles up 1000ft and should take 3 hours. So I set off. It was a warm day and I had to buy a rather unstylish hat from the market in the town square so I didn't get burnt, and some sunscreen.
The first part almost killed me. Once I got to the fell the first part is very steep and I had to stop and get out my inhaler as the incline and the humidity was just messing with my breathing. So I had that, then I sat down for a little bit to try and stop my heart beating so fast and so strong it had flooded my head too. Then I set off again and finally you get to a section where you can keep going up the 5th highest fell in the lake district, or you can turn off for Latrigg. I turned off. You then zig zag up a much more do-able slope until you reach the top where there are some amazing views. You actually walk through sheep fields and have to walk through lots of gates etc. On the way down from there it got to a part that was gravel and downhill. Knowing my knees I slowly and carefully went down the path, ensuring each foot was secure before I placed all my weight on it to take a step. I had been going down this path for a couple of minutes, steadily and carefully and had about 3 more steps before I came to the fence that marked the end of the field with the path, and an actual road. There was a stile going over the fence which the couple in front had climbed over, and they were stopped waiting for me. When I was 3 more steps to go, she said "we can open the gate from this side, would you like me to open the gate?" so I didn't have to climb over. So I looked at her and said yes, and in doing so stopped concentrating on my steps and went BANG down onto my right hip/thigh. Thanks to the stones, I didn't get one flat bruise, I got about 4 large welts that came up immediately as I landed on 4 stones. So... I fell on a fell. *sigh*
Then from there it went on a bit of a marathon path through the woods, which I started to regret as it was narrow paths with loose stones and dirt and sheer drops down the side of the fell if u slipped. But some of the up was so steep I couldn't bear turning around and going back down them! It was so deep in the woods that I went to walk over a little bridge and a red squirrel came to cross the path, saw me and ran up a tree. The red squirrels are very rare as the grey squirrel has almost wiped them out, and greys are pests.
So I plodded on and got down the bottom to where there was a river, so I sat there for a while and cooled down, then headed off again. I finally got back to town about 3.25 hours after i set off,and I had about 25 minutes of breaks along the way, so that means I did it in just under 3 hours. So yay me! On the way down the path 2 ladies in little lycra numbers RAN past me. Freaks! Then when I got back I grabbed a bread roll and went to sit down by the lake again, getting my normal colour back in my cheeks. It must have been about 25'C which I have acclimatised myself to finding hot now.
10/6- This was my Beatrix Potter day. I checked out of the B&B and put my stuff in the car, then was picked up by Colin for a personal guided tour. I was the only person on the tour. Colin and I got along very well which was good. Chatted all the way. He runs the company with his wife, although she does more of the office stuff as they have a new baby. Anyways, yes, so we went off to see a couple of the sites from different stories. I must admit I am not a huge Beatrix Potter fan and haven't read most of the stories in such a long time I forget what they are about, but it was more just nice areas of the Lake District. I went on a boat down the lake to see it from the water, then met back up with Colin who took me to a place called the Drunken Duck Inn for lunch. Then we went to Beatrix Potter's house, which was quite small and had a gorgeous English country garden. Then from there we went to see her studio which was very creaky and old and I thought I was going to fall through the floor to downstairs! Then on the way back we had time to swing by Castlerigg stone circle, which I had mentioned I hadn't seen but wanted to, which is a massive stone circle, and it heaps older than Stonehenge and no one knows what it was used for, or why. It is an amazing place because you can see all around as it is on top of a fell.
Then we went back to the B&B where I got back in my car and drove to my aunt's place where I stayed the night. I was so sore and stiff from my walk the day before and sitting around all that day, and in the car, that I couldn't bear getting up at 4.45am Monday to go to work, so I rang in and told them I wasn't available. Ummah, I know, but i was exhausted. So then I drove down the rest on Monday, having done a grand total of 655miles in the weekend... or 1054km.

I had a lovely class on Tues/Wed/Thurs. They were lively, but proper lively, not "lively" like the others they send me too. I really enjoyed it. Still teachers who are used to proper sit down do your work schools would have struggled with this class, but I found it a relief from the usual dramas! Then yesterday I had a reception class at a bad school. One of the boys drove me mental which his constant whinging about everything. "They are all being selfish to me!" So I told him to not use words he didn't know what they meant. And his breath stank cos instead of teeth he had little rotting black sticks in his mouth probably rarely brushed and fed very poor diet. *shudder*.
Tonight I had a band gig at a village in the middle of no where's wine and cheese quiz night. Apparently they go every year. It was fun, we play, then we go and have wine and cheese and do the quizzes too, then we play again, bu which time people are better lubricated, so they sing along. And we played Tequila and the audience all get percussion bits and pieces to play too during the piece. And it just goes downhill from there. It was a good night, but a tiring night as it started at 8 and didn't finish til 11.30 and by the time I got home etc. It is now 1.35am and I just have to finish this then I am going to bed. *YAWN*

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Competition results

I will be doing a proper blog on the weekend of my trip to the Lake District however I remembered I didn't post the answers to my last quiz. Well.... there were 2 winners.... each with a dismal 2 answers right, however one of them was my mum, and she is already getting goodies when i get back, so I went with the other winner, Vegie!
So... heres the full pictures the little bits were from, or in 1 case, the zoom in of one of them.
Cotton Bales- Ivory Coast
White Corn stock- Kenya
Rugs stall- Marrakech
Flamingos on Lake Nakuru- Kenya
Tea Harvesting - Kenya


Appologies for the reflections but they were all behind perspex. If u look at the rug one, underneath the lap reflection is a little white thing... it is a person walking across the rugs, for some perspective. There are more obvious people in all the others, except the flamingo one.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Cotswoldians

Ok. First of all let me say that 2 people have 2 right with the quiz. I am leaving it running for another few days in the hopes I get some more answers that I can hopefully get someone gets 3 so I don't have to worry about a 2nd prize!
BIG news... I will be leaving on the 30th July. Its official. I have a return date! Woot! Finally! Its a bit of a saga of how/why but I am definitely coming home on the 30th July. Yay! i feel like a HUGE weight has been lifted off my shoulders, cos not having a confirmed return date affected so much, and was causing more stress than the last 10 months combined! so now its is only 54 days to go!
Ok, so, I went to the Costwolds on Sunday. I woke up to find the sun trying desperately to wriggle its way through the clouds. It did manage to do this, and we had a reasonably pleasant day, until the return journey back to Bath when the sun lost it's battle and was overcome by the clouds and then as a victory sign, the clouds released rain. But I had seen the Costwolds and was heading back, so I didn't care!
Cotswolds are meant to be one of the most beautiful places in England. Famous people have weekend houses there, famous actors etc holiday there, Prince Charles has his house there, when he isn't in London. The term Cotswolds comes from the break down of Wolds... meaning undulating hills. And Cots being a farmer who one lived on the region. Many many years ago.
Well the first place we got to was Castle Combe. Combe means narrow valley. And it was winding down a little narrow road to get there. It was odd because there was a gorgeous wood alongside the road, but growing in the woods was wild garlic, so the whole village smelt of garlic. I suppose that would take some getting used to. Castle is because there used to be a Castle, but it fell down and went to ruin, and a Manor house was built instead, which has since been turned into a hotel, as many of them have. Michelle Pfieffer has stayed there.
There was a market cross, because it used to be a market town, and there is a nice little church.
From there we went to Badminton. The Manor house in Badminton is still a functioning manor house, and Lord Beauford who lives in the manor owns about 98% of the houses in the village and leases them out. As such he gets to pick the colour of the guttering etc, as their landlord, so they all have hideous goldy/yellow/caramel coloured drainpipes!! (photo from inside coach so has UV greening)Apparently he is one of the few lords of the manor who don't have to open their homes to the public to help subsidise the upkeep, because he is loaded. A fine art dealer apparently, who is friends with many celebrities.
Random fact #1: Badminton is called such because it was invented in the manor house, back in the day when guests would amuse themselves on rainy days with indoor tennis in the hall. The owner was fed up with the damage to his paintings that he invented the shuttlecock. And all badminton courts are now the exact size of the manor house's main hall, and the nets are the height of the mantles inside.
From here it was on to Bibury which is a trout farming town. We stopped for a drink, then went for a short walk on the Rake Isle which is between the river and the mill stream, and (random fact #2) it called Rake Isle because it is where the sheep fleeces were hung to dry, on Rakes, and they were hung up using tenter hooks. We walked past Arlington Row which is said to be the most photographed row of houses in Britain... so I had to take a photo!
We then walked back around up past the river where there a couple of wild trout swimming, eating the bread the ducks don't get. Further up the river, just across the next road was the Trout farm where you could go an catch your own trout to take home. Apparently people buy trout to stock their local rivers from there as it is that large and successful! And further up by the bridge back onto the Isle was a mummy and daddy swan and some baby cygnets. As per usual, the mum was looking after the kids while the dad was getting hand fed bread! From here we went to Stow-on-the-Wold where we stopped for lunch. It isn't anything special because it is a more developed town, with a YHA and banks and mini supermarket and stuff. Stow means Sacred Place apparently.
Then we went to the Slaughters. As graphic as it sounds, slaughter means muddy place. We drove through lower slaughter, to Upper Slaughter. Then we got out, walks a little loop of the village which had some absolutely gorgeous sights in it.
Then the coach driver/guide sent us off on a walk through fields and stuff to get to Lower Slaughter where he met us. Then we had the opportunity to have an icecream if we wanted, which I didn't bring my money for... shame... cos they had very random flavours!!! There was also a little antique shop that had a row of ornamental staddles. Random Fact #3: these were used to store grain barrels on so that they were above ground and not getting wet. 4 of them were placed on the ground, and a wooden board was put down and the barrels placed on top. They are shaped as they are because it was impossible for mice to climb them. They are now sought after garden ornaments and some houses have the originals, while others buy new ones which as you can see, are made for any size garden. But the original ones were only the giant size. That was the last stop, then we got back on the coach and drove back into bath, past the outside gate to Prince Charles' house, which you wouldn't know was there if it wasn't pointed out as it is completely hidden away and not marked at all. It was a good day, very informative, and now I can say I have done the Cotswolds. Even if that was only a beginners guide to them. I got a sense of them.
It has been glorious weather the last 2 days. Today was about 22/23'C weather wise, but in the sun was up to about 30'C. I was working just the afternoon in a nursery that has very poor ventilation so I was rather warm! Hopefully it stays like this for the weekend when I am off to the Lake District for 2 days/3 nights. *fingers crossed* I am still getting used to the sunshine, and the daylight hours! It is currently 8pm. This what it looks like out my window...

Friday, June 01, 2007

Hello/Hallo/Bonjour

Ok, so, I am back from my ... eventful... 6 days going to London then on to Brussels, where 3/4 speak French and 1/4 speak Flemmish (Dutch) hence my multi-lingual title for this post! So... here goes:
26/5- I got up at 6am, showered and dressed and went downstairs to meet to taxi I had booked for 6.30. The taxi driver was a nice enough man, and he drove me into the city, where not long after my Megabus arrived. There were lots of football fans around, as I soon found out the Bristol Rovers were playing in some league final at the new Wembley stadium and if they won they went up a division. As i was standing there in the queue I looked at my reservation print out and noticed it said Monday 28th May. Which was of course in 2 days time. So I calmly showed it to the man hoping he would let me on and not notice. He did notice, and said they already had 2 coaches instead of one and had 117 people booked on for the trip cos of the football. He suggested I ring the office and try and get on the next one. So, tired, I welled up and struggled to hold it all together cos it was ok, I would just ring and the people in the office would help me get to London in time for my show. So I went to get my mobile out... but it wasn't there. It was sitting on my bed where I had last had it. At this point I had a good old cry, cos I was stranded in the middle of Bristol. The information place didn't open til 8.30am. The offices for Megabus didn't open til 8am. I finally rang the megabus on a payphone and the only bus was midday, which was too late. So I waited for the info place to open, and when I told her she said she wasn't even going to look cos there would be no other coaches going out of Bristol to London. I said what about trains, and she said I could try but wasn't too sure how I would get on. So I walked to the station and they were selling tickets outside it was so busy inside, and they had even put on extra trains. I managed to get one. £48 versus the £4 I have paid for the bus. But I was on my way, on a crowded train full of singing football supporters who were already drinking at 9am. When I got to Piccadilly station I then had to get on the underground to Victoria, walk to my hostel, dump my bag, get back on the underground and head to the stop near the Aldwych Theatre. The weather was slowly but surely getting greyer and greyer and threatening to rain. I queued for my side entrance door to open and climbed the stairs to the nose bleed section of the theatre, designed for bums from the 1920's, so it was a tight squeeze for everyone. But Dirty Dancing was AMAZING!! Very true to the film, great singing, great dancing, and the guy who played Johnny.... *drool*! There were several hens do's out watching it and they all cheered when he came on, and screamed when he took his shirt off, and several were fanning themselves with their programmes whenever he was on the stage. Anyways, when I came out it was starting to sprinkle with rain, so I went back to the underground, back to the hostel, up the 91 stairs to my room, and bunked down there for the night. On the top bunk. Joy. The most random thing in the hostel... There was a shower in the room... with just a glass door with a bit of frosted glass in the middle. Interesting. I didn't use it... I showered in the share with everyone in the building showers down the hall.
27/5- I got up to find it was... raining!!! Yay! For my London Eye experience. And as I got closer and closer the rain got heavier and heavier and the visibility got worse and worse. GRRR! It was a good experience, I can tick it off the list, but the rain was pouring down the glass so you couldn't see much, and then the rain made it hard to see far anyways. So I ended up with lots of tragic photos.
After I went on the ferry ride which was good, informative, you got to find out about the different bridges and some of the other sights along the river and the history of the Thames areas.
Then I had lunch at a Chinese buffet called Chopstix and caught the tube to Hamleys. the toy store with 7 floors. I had never heard of this before (of if I had it was blocked from memory) which is sad, because I was a bit too old for it this time! People were going crazy buying everything, like they don't sell toys in their home countries! I bought myself a Hamley's bear. I have named him... wait for it... Hamlet. Cos he's little and from Hamleys! HAHA. I know, I'm hilarious! From there I went back on the tube and across to Kightbridge station where one can find the illustrious Harrods, which only opened at 12 on Sundays, and it was only 1pm, so it was a scooch crowded, especially because of the slightly less rainy but still misty weather. I walked around a little bit, went into the souvenirs and cos I was too poor this time decided I would go back next time I am in London, however I did go into the food hall and bought myself a slice of £1 banana cake so I could get a bag. I queued for 25 minutes for it! But it was probably the cheapest thing you could get in order to get a bag!
I had a whim to take myself to go and see Wimbledon. Just to say I had. So I caught the tube to Wimbledon station. There were no signs to the tennis centre, only the lawn tennis museum, so I went back on and got off at the next station, Wimbledon Park. There was a sign that said to get to Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Centre to follow the signs for the Gold Ring or something like that Walk. So I followed and followed and go myself nowhere, other than tired, exhausted and with the feeling of being crushed into the ground by my backpack. Which was only my day pack! So i stopped under a tree, where it wasn't too misty and had my banana cake, to lighten the load, and then drank my drinks to lighten the road some more. At this point I decided Wimbledon Arena was a national secret and they didn't want you to find it so I went back to the station and caught the next train to head back, after over and hour of walking pointlessly. Then as we approach the next station, Southfields, it says on the announcements "alight here for Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Centre" which I did, and it was about a 25 minute walk but I eventually found it. Shut of course, but I made it! So I took a photo and went back. Guess what, if I had gone the other way following the ring signs at Wimbledon Park I would have found it and guess what it was right next to? The lawn Tennis Museum!!! ARGH!!! Walking back to the station I found a phone on the floor. It was broken. I picked it up, put it back together and went through the contacts to find "Dad" who I rang. Turns out "dad" was in South Africa but it was his daughters phone and he tried to help me get it back to her, but in calling him i used up her left over credit, and i didn't have my phone. So I walked along with it, and eventually one of her friends rang it, and turns out the owner was in London for the weekend. So I arranged to meet her at the underground station near my hostel, and she travelled 45 mins to come get her phone. So that was my good deed for the day. Then I went back and went to sleep.
28/5- I got up, packed, checked out, got on the underground, went out on the new Jubilee line to the stop next to the Millennium Dome, took a photo, and got back into the train and went to Heathrow Airport. I was there too early, but didn't have anything else I wanted to do in the rain and cold... highs of 10'C!! Bring on Summer! I was going to go to Malaysian Airlines to work out my return ticket but I didn't realise it was a public holiday, so they would have been shut. It dawned on me that if I could reclaim my time spent sitting in airports during the last 12 months I could get like another 15 hours at least! Finally I checked in, and the plane... oh wow... I should fly from Heathrow on proper international flights more often! It had room. Leg room. Bum room. It was great!! So I flew into Brussels, caught a train to the North Station and walked in the gloom to my hostel, where I decided I would just stay for the rest of the day as it was already like 6pm. There were bastard children (10 yr old boys) running around the place, as it was one of those big family/school group friendly hostels, not just a backpackers. I had to yell at them at one point cos they were rolling a ball down the hall to bounce off their door, which was right next to my door, and it was SO annoying! So then they went inside and bounced it against the adjoining wall instead. MUCH better! I was assigned the top bunk, even tho no one else was in there, but there was more light up there and head room, so I sacrificed my knees again and made the climb up and down. I went to bed alone, and woke up alone, however there was evidence that 2 other people had used the room during the night.
29/5- I got showered and dressed and went off to catch the open top bus tour. It was still looking like it could rain at any minute so I went for waterproof instead of warmth, and that was a bad choice as it was freezing! I got off to see the Opera, which is modelled off the Opera House in Paris. I went from there around the corner to the Mannequin Pis. I learnt that he has over 100 different outfits made for him for special occasions! Then I got back on the bus and went to the Courts of Justice which are massive, but covered in scaffolding during renovations (like most important buildings I have seen). There is a good view of the city as that is the highest point. You can even see the Atomium, which I got off and took a photo of, while on the bus tour. It was built for the world trade fair, and it supposed to symbolise an atom, made up of 9 nuclei which represent the then 9 regions of Belgium. It is massive! Apparently you can climb it and there is a restaurant up one of the balls. I walked back down the street to a very pretty cathedral, however inside about 70% is boarded up for renovation. Then down from there is the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) which is in an old art deco style building that used to be a hotel. I paid €5 for my tour where you get headphones and when you stand in front of a display of instruments you hear some piece that focuses on that instrument either as a solo or an ensemble of brass etc. There were some very nice pieces, and some interesting ones, like an ocarina and drum concerto. Some were oriental instruments. There was no clarinet music, just old clarinets showing their development. I had to run by the bagpipes display because the music was awful! it hurt my ears! From there I walked down the hill and through a park, where there are very nice views from the top. The blue sky was trying very hard to come out at this stage. Then I walked down in the general direction of the Hostel, and stumbled on the Grande Place which was an amazing square of old buildings.
My random thing that made me smile was that most of the little streets are cobbled, and where the zebra crossings are, instead of painting them on, like every other city has done, they have cobbled them in too using white marble stones! It was just a nice touch.
30/5- I woke up at 8.45am after spending another nights on my own, to discover glorious sunshine outside. I showered, packed, checked out, walked to the new hotel, cos the hostel was booked for the 3rd night, and dumped my bag then set off. I walked through the Grand Place again, where I bought myself a Belgian Waffle for breakfast. While I ate that I looked at the map to see what I was near and what I could do for free, as I was on a rather tight budget and had done the things I could afford to do the day before. I walked up the hill through where the amazing view was, past the MIM and up to the Place Royale which is guarded by a giant horse statue. It is where the King resides when he is in town, and the flag was flying, which meant he was home! Opposite his palace is the Parc de Bruxelles which had a really nice photo expo running up and down each side of one of the perimeter fences. Through the park is a fountain and opposite was the Palais de la Nation. I walked up and around the block and discovered the Palais des Academies which houses 5 of Belgium's 7 academies (e.g. medicine/ fine arts/ military etc). I then walked down the Boulevard de Waterloo, which is a massive street designed to reflect the boulevards of Paris. I then got some lunch and walked to the Petit S'Ablon park which has 48 statues of tradesmen on pillars around the outside, representing the 48 trades that were acknowledged in the guild. I then ended up outside the Museum of Fine Arts which is near the big horse statue, completing my big loop. I worked out a loop past a church and to the botanical gardens before heading back to the hotel. I was amazed to discover I timed something right, walking into the Cathedral just as the 2pm bells were chiming, and being handed a flyer because there was a free concert starting at 2pm from a group called the Oakville Singers where were touring, from Worcestershire! So I sat and listened to them sing for 90 minutes, then walked nearby to the Place de Congress where there is an obelisk guarded by 2 large lion statues who protect it and an eternal flame. From there I headed up to the botanical gardens, which are pretty, but not very serene, as they are RIGHT next to 2 of the biggest roads surrounding Brussels. It was then cloudy and starting to rain so I headed back to the hotel, checked in and headed to my room. The room was ok. It was a first for me... it had a mirrored ceiling! Random!
31/5- It was sunny first thing but quickly started to turn cloudy again. I had my complimentary bread roll and danish, then headed on foot to the Station. There I got hit on by some creepy man who wanted money for a ticket, then when I said I didn't have any he started to rub my back and tell me I was beautiful. So I politely told him to leave me alone and made big gestures so the rail guard came over and the guy left. Then caught the train to the Airport. Then the Plane to Heathrow. Then the underground to Victoria. Then the megabus coach to Bristol. Then a taxi to home. What a lot of different types of transport!
So overall views...
London: I remember being crowded, big, unfriendly and rude. This time it was still crowded, with so many tourists just stopping to see something despite the fact there are like 300 people walking on the same footpath. It is still big. I did see some acts of kindness and niceness though, so I think I am not so sure on the rudeness. I know I definitely couldn't live there though. I'm glad I didn't do the usual tourist things, cos I think I have done them to death, and I was doing some off the beaten track stuff, which when I see on TV now I can say "I've been there".
Brussels: I'm glad i didn't have longer than my 2 full days there. It is a nice little city, but it is VERY little. You can walk everywhere, and it doesn't have a great deal of history/heritage so there is only so much you can see/do that is Brussels-specific without going into museums etc which I am so bored with. And as for the Chocolate. They charge a fortune for stuff you can buy in Coles. Guillyan, Cote D'Or etc. I bought one bar I hadn't heard of before, and it wasn't anything special. Oh... and they sure do like their statues!
My quiz for this post is a bit different. I took some photos of the photos in the expo and you need to guess what they are pictures of. They are either sections of, or the whole, whichever makes it harder to guess. Good luck!

1...............2....................3....................4....................5

Appologies for the picture quality, but when I stitched them together I couldn't be botheredgoing back and playing with the size. Makes it more of a challenge! It was a world/culture/environement expo if that helps!