Europe thus far:

Paris was awesome, really one of the prettiest cities I've seen in a while. For a split second I got excited to be traveling again then I started coughing again & my nose started running, again... Honest I'm not really sad, bitter & twisted, just kinda sick. I managed to power through Saturday & half of Sunday, taking in the Eiffel tower & so many other sights I can't name now (but will do later). Then crashed at the hotel about 5pm. I woke up on Monday morning & I swear was the sickest I've ever been.

Spent Monday on the bus traveling to Interlarken in Switzerland. The scenery we were going passed was beautiful! Like it was dusted with icing sugar. All white & magical. Lots of villages with church towers etc. We got to Switzerland early evening & the Drs were closed. To cut a long story short I kinda managed to sleep through Switzerland but got to see a bit of it while getting lost trying to find my way to the Drs the next day & that's about it. Turns out I had a throat infection, fever & bronchitis. Yay! Go me! At least when I get sick I do it properly, explains why I felt like death anyway. The nice Dr gave me drugs & now I'm starting to feel better.

Yesterday the drive form Switzerland into Italy was spectacular. The mountains, lakes & frost combination were breath taking. I'm now in Milan, where it's a tad dreary... Have done a bit of a walking tour & looked at a church, Oprah house & castle. Now I'm going to have a quick look in the shops & go back to the hotel cause I'm still not feeling crash hot.

Milan, Italy, Thursday 16th December 2004, 15.12

Off to Europe tomorrow...

Wow the last 2 weeks seem like they have lasted for ever but they've actually gone really quickly, I know, I make so much sense! Quite a few days were written off because I've been sick but all the same I've enjoyed London.

It's really bad because I don't know what I've been up to. Well I do but I can't really remember the sequence of events‏... I blame it on been sick...

Monday I didn't end up doing anything. I found a massage place though & my shoulder's not quite so sore now which is great.

Now this is where it gets fuzzy, I think Tuesday was spent wondering round Notting Hill Gate, Kensington Gardens & Kensington Palace then jumped on the tube & went to & saw St Paul's Cathedral on my way to London Museum where I spent half the day wondering round learning how London came to be.

Wednesday I caught up with Martyn who I met in Bolivia. It was a great day. We got tickets to Les Mis for 25pounds. It was fantastic!! I really love the theater. So I've now been to Lester square & the west end & wondered down Regent Street & looked at all the pretty christmas lights.

Yesterday was a total write off! I got up went to the internet, felt like crap went to the chemist got some drugs then came back to the hostel & proceeded to sleep for most of the day. Last night I caught with Simon who I met in Turkey which was great. Although drinking on cold & flu tablets isn't such a wise idea… :)

Today I was so tempted to sleep all day but Simon, who I was staying with in Stoke, came down to London, so I spent most of the day with him wondering round the city. It was cool just to walk around. I've been a bit lazy & have been catching the tube so it's a bit hard to fit everything together & figure out how the city works so it was really good just to wonder round. We walked down Oxford Street & went to Selfridges which is a huge department store, very, very expensive, & I was tempted to spend 60pounds on a small pink leather bound diary, it was so cute! I've walked through places like Mayfair, Trafalgar square, Bond Street plus sqillions of other places that appear on the monopoly game board :D Very cool!

Tonight instead of going out partying like all decent backpackers do I'm having a quite night… Not to mention having to pack :( The tour leaves at 7am tomorrow morning so I've got a pretty early start & have to try to get form Earls Court to Bayswater on the tube then find the departure point… Shouldn't be too hard but I think I'll have to leave here about 6.15am or maybe 6am to be on the safe side.

Well, tomorrow I'll be in France… Oh what life! :D

Earls Court, England, Friday 10th December 2004, 6.50pm

I'm sick…

Not sure of the last time I posted. I've just spent the weekend staying at my friend Kate's place which was cool. It was nice to chill out, even though I seem to have been doing quite a bit of that lately.

I got back to London on Wednesday & have really only made use of Thursday by going to the V&A museum (Victoria & Albert) & the Natural History museum. I really enjoyed wandering round on my own again. Thursday night I was introduced to the Red Back in Acton town but it was a little quiet so we moved on to the Slug & Lettuce in Fullum w‏‏hich was packed. I met up with Helen & Kim who I was with in the Middle East & Jordan who I met in Portugal.

I don't think I actually did anything Friday except recover form Thursday night… Unless changing my flights counts as something. I'm coming home… Scary!!!! Beginning of Feb I'll be back in Oz. Oh, I was supposed to go out with Kim Friday night but I bailed then some of the boys from the hostel dragged me out to the Red Back… So the quiet night I hoped for didn't happen. Saturday I caught a train to Welling & I stayed at Kate's Saturday & Sunday. Saturday night we went to an Irish pub with lots of English people in it :D then on to a 4 story club called venue, 12 pounds to get in! It was a good night though.

Yesterday, Sunday, we went to Greenwich Park & looked through the observatory where time is taken from, well you know what I mean, & I stood on with one foot on either side of the meridian line – cheesy tourist!

Greenwich was lovely, kinda reminded me of the Rocks in Sydney. We wandered through the park, round the markets then down to the river. It was a really nice day out. I think that everything's catching up with me though. I've got a cold coming on & my shoulder's been aching for the last few weeks (combination of cold weather & carrying my pack (?)). I don't know if it's just my attitude or cause I'm feeling sick but I really can't be bothered doing anything… Maybe I'm just lazy :D

The hostel I'm staying at is cool, very laid back. I don't mind just chilling out here which is good… & bad cause it means I'll sit here & chill instead of going out exploring. Oh well, such is life :D

This afternoon I'm planning on doing a few things‏, I can't just waste a whole day… or can I… ;) I thought I might as well go on the London Eye & was thinking before that I could go for a wander round Notting Hill. I'll see how I feel after I've been up to the internet. Or maybe, I'll just see if I can find somewhere to get a massage that'll hopefully stop my shoulder aching...

Because I'm lacking motivation & can't be bothered figuring it out by myself I'm going to take a day tour down to Stonehenge for 57pounds, actually there's a 3 day tour that goes down that way that costs 70pounds… plus you pay for accommodation, I might h‎‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏ave a look at that for when I get back from Ireland… Decisions, decisions…

Earls Court, London, England – Monday 6th December 2004, 11.52am

Wales

I seem to be getting around a bit, don't I! :) I'm still in Wales, will be heading back to London on the train this afternoon. It's been lovely staying with
Rhi & her parents. Rhi's taken Johannas & I to do quite a bit of sight seeing which has been great. We came to Wales on Sunday & I slept most of the trip,
nothing to do with having a hang over - HONEST ;) - though I was awake when we crossed over from England into Wales. The sun was shining & it's been lovely
weather for us here. Sunday night when we arrived at Rhi's, her mum had a lovely Roast dinner ready for us. I didn't realise how much I've missed my greens!

Monday we went to Castle Coch. It's pretty much a fairy tail type castle with turrets & it's lovely. We then went to Cardiff bay & had a late lunch & walked
around & looked at the new millenium centre. Who says those interactive display things are only for kids! We had a great time :) We then went into Cardiff,
looked around town, saw the castle then watched the ice skating opposite the town hall. It was lovely! (I seem to be using that word quite a lot, please forgive!).

Wales really is nice. The scenery is 'lovely'! Hill sides, lots of trees, cute British terrace houses with chimneys gushing smoke. Really nice.

Tuesday we set off for England, about a 40 min drive from where Rhi lives & looked around Bath. The Roman baths there are pretty cool, I must admit that I'm a
bit blase about ruins now, though. It was really good to have the audio guide as it did give quite a bit of history which was interesting. Whether I like it or not I think I'll be a little more educated before I get home :) !! Bath is quite a pretty town/city. The shops are really nice & the buildings are all made out of the Famous Bath stone, which is yellow in colour. It'd have been great to have had money to spend in Bath but it was a tad expensive. It even cost me £8 to get in to have a look at the Roman baths, but such is life - & it was worth it.

I'm at Rhi's work now and 'Hannas & I are going to catch the train back to London about 1pm. My tour of Europe is all booked for the 11th of December, so I'll
have a bit of time to chill out. Planning on catching up with quite a few people so I can't wait. Looks like I'll be staying at my friend Kate's place on the
weekend but after that I'm not sure.

I explored London a little on the weekend, so more of that to come. Then the only other thing I really want to do is catch a show. Lion King's on at the moemnt
so I'm hoping to book & go that.

Must go - trying to sort out flights & things - oh the fun of it... I tell you I'm not looking forward to lugging thoes bags around. I can handle the back pack
but I've still got my shisha pipe & turkish rug in another bag - I swear they are going to kill me! I looked at storage at Paddington Station - £5.50 per day... umm think I'll leave it. It must look hilarious though, this short, little thing with a huge backpack on her back, another bag on her front & pulling along a rather large duffel bag type thing on wheels. It will kill me I'm sure...

Umm not much else, think I forgot to mention that I cut my hair a few weeks ago. Was annoying me, the hairdresser didn't to the best job in the world but it's ok.

Well, must go xoxox

Newport, Wales - Wednesday, 1st December 2004, 11.25am