Happy birthday young lady!
Thank you for always being there and just being yourself. Your humour and patience has gotten us through some long work days and you're definitely my kind of crazy. I hope you had a wonderful night out. xxxx
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October has been a month of settling back into London life, battling a little homesickness and welcoming the odd bout of sunshine to break the Autumn weather. School takes a short break- the teachers say thank god for that and usually evacuate the city en masse to somewhere less work-ish! To take my mind off of home, a beautiful gaggle of gal pals has been at my side, going on adventures and causing trouble. I would be lost without them! You know who you are :) xxxx Hever Castle, KentRoad trip! We managed to find a car and trek our way to Hever Castle, nearby Canterbury (kind of). The grounds are huge, well groomed and very romantic, even if they were Halloween themed with plastic skeletons coming out of the ground and pumpkin heads rolling everywhere. There was an old school (and my first) genuine garden maze which was a lot of fun. The buildings are all old, stone and impressive. Of course they would take me to a castle to cheer me up! It worked. There were plenty of displays inside regarding Anne Boleyn and so much history beyond that. It is currently used as a museum and a wedding venue. It's a fantastic family fun day out or, like us, a girls day out if you're into history, gardening or ye olde worlde in general. On our way back to London, we made a pit-stop at Pooh Corner in Pooh Country, Hartfield. It was a tiny little store in the original village of the creator of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, A. A. Milne. According to a brochure, the area was Milne's inspiration for the Pooh stories, along with the tales of his son and his faithful nanny as 'Christopher Robin' was growing up. Considering its out-of-the-way position, it was super busy and there were all kinds of Pooh-themed merchandise inside, from new graphic story books to postcards with copies of the original Milne sketches on them. Childish but a definite stop if you're in the area. Edinburgh, ScotlandI have returned and this time I brought friends! As it was school holidays, though short and rainy, I decided it would be good to drag some beauties up north and educate those up there about the true fabulousness of teachers on break. Scotland is one of my favourite slices of old world country I've discovered so far and though it was the first place I travelled to on my own so many years ago, I still find myself coming back again and again and, more often than not, dragging others with me. I found it surprising that the two UK residents had never made it so far north before and it was so much fun playing tour guide! We sampled a few drinking houses, one particularly funny ghost tour, the top graveyard in Edinburgh and an alley where an undead woman was said to have lived. We did a historical walking tour, bothered the students and staff at the university and got lost on cobblestone streets. Did you know the Scots built themselves a coliseum? Or tried to as they were once considered 'the Rome of Europe'. Unfortunately, shipping enormous slabs of sandstone from warmer climates takes a toll on the pocket and whoever it was, ran out of money. The half built grand coliseum stands on the hill by the observatory and looks charmingly out of place up there. My only wish would have been to have stayed longer, but that is nothing new there. A good time was had by all, one pound bills were collected, alcohol was consumed and laughs were had. Until next time Scotland! You know I'll be back.
I am one lucky girl.
Before she headed off on the long flight home, I got to go out with this lovely to one of the best, most fan-girly places in the world! WARNER BROS. HARRY POTTER WORLD According to a highly expensive brochure I didn't end up buying, most of the filming was done in the studios and we got to walk past, through and around particular HP scenes, including the brand new Forbidden Forest exhibition where they display some of the fake trees they actually used in filming- they are enormous We had ourselves a grand, geeky old time with selfies, butterbeer in two chilly forms and brilliant company. Have a safe flight girl! I am going to miss you more than you know- Melbourne is lucky to have you back! Much love xxxx March has been a busy month! There have been girl-dates, flowers, cocktail nights and St Patrick's Day celebrate in London. I am so lucky to have all these ladies with me in this strange and serious town and this month has turned out to be all about celebrating with them. It has been a tough month at work and with missing home but every grinning, drunken face has done a little bit and a lot to make things that much bright, better and easier for me. I hope you can say the same about me because I value each and every one of you for all the things you bring to my world. Thank you! I got to spend the sappy day at work and then spent the evening with two beautiful ladies watching the hilarious Kinky Boots in the city. Can easily say I haven't seen such a funny, glamorous show in a long, long time! The movie was pretty cool but they carried the costumes, voices and humour off in this stage show fantastically! If you ever travel to London Town, you most definitely should see their take on this awesome stage show. Thankyou ladies for having me along and enjoying a giggle. xx To all the couples out there, enjoy your special day but remember to love each other every other day too. To all the singles out there, enjoy your space and time. One day will come along, enjoy life until then! Merry Christmas to all of my loves across the globe! I wish I could be there with you but, as you can see, I have kidnapped a familiar face and dragged her around Amsterdam, Berlin and Budapest. We are eating, drinking and being merry.
Wishing you all a happy Christmas with lots of love and all the best wishes! xxx Christmas is well and truly on its way. There are red, green and gold celebrations happening all over London and it's not even Christmas Eve yet! We have had Christmas Jumper Day at school- some people have taken it to mean the ugliest jumpers they can find but I went for a simple SNOWFLAKE pattern because... I can and hopefully it will bring on a white Christmas for meeeeee! Winter Wonderland has opened up and it is as dazzling, huge and expensive as you can imagine. Lots of mulled wine was had and people watching was done. There's a German Beer Hall with a dancefloor and a drunken performer. It was great! Amanda and I also went on an open top bus tour through London City- the first bus tour I have done since moving here so YAY! It was freezing, it was dark and it was beautiful! Would definitely recommend it to the tourist within. UK schools enjoy staff Christmas parties because, unfortunately, the school year doesn't end in December- it's almost like a commemoration party with Christmas crackers and talks about the next two weeks off. It was great to sit down and catch up with everyone, hear about plans and have a laugh. I'm pretty lucky to work with the people I do! I was invited to my first 'grown up' Christmas party, which had all the best parts of a big family Christmas; food, lounges and alcohol. Plus, I got to meet some cool new people and hear about everyone's year. I think an adulting success was had all around! Thanks to the ladies that had us, it was almost like being home again :) I am back in dreary old London town, which turns out isn't all that dreary.
I celebrated a few firsts this month- my first Diwali with all its bright colours, food and celebrations and my first Guy Fawkes night complete with standing in a paddock, waiting for fireworks and oohing as the geese and ducks get frightened out of their nightly doze when they finally take off. The weather is getting cooler, work is still rolling on- nearly at the end, though and there have been plenty of nights out with the girls (pictures are unecessary, I'll let you just imagine how messy!) Missing home after my visit in September but glad I had some beautiful friends to come back to. |
AuthorMy home is Australia, with my family and their many, many animals. I have travelled all around the world with my family and by myself where I have made too many friends to count. |