I just arrived in Riga a few hours ago and it started pelting down about half an hour before arriving on the bus. It wasn't a surprise though, it's been really hot and humid so it was only a matter of time. Shame it was on arriving in a new city, luckily my hostel was about 3 minutes from the bus station *phew ( Read more... )

Two of my housemates are Scottish, and they have a Burns night every year. I'd never heard of it, but want to bring it back to Oz because it was so great. It started with a toast to the lads and lasses, branched out to some poetry reading, including a Venezuelan original (I nervously read a short poem, stumbled over a few words, but survived the ( Read more... )

I still feel like I can't fully open my eyes, fatigue weighing them down ( Read more... )

Imagine, if you will, a wonderful fjord. If like me, you haven't seen one till now, imagine an impressive ring of mountains surrounding a serene, glistening body of water. Imagine then, at the water's edge, a wonderful old walled town - cobbled streets, clock tower, gorgeous old churches, red roofs, grand residences of princes and thieves. Behind ( Read more... )

I'm in Athens, it's warm and I felt a layer of dirt settle on my skin after a few hours walking around. Nonetheless, it's wonderful. Met mum here yesterday, where she talked my ear off about the relationship dramas she's had with travelling with 5-10 people in Europe. As I'm now staying in a room with two of them, I can understand. On Monday, ( Read more... )

It's Saturday night, and poker night has been cancelled ( Read more... )

I went to Liverpool yesterday. When I was thinking about moving to Manchester, my housemate Jim, a north-west boy from Preston, recommended Liverpool instead. He told me that it's proud, rough and ready, and that you can practically feel the trade unions forming around you ( Read more... )

The ultimate (and fun) East London put down - rarely used by the locals, but over-the-top use by me, Tsugumi (Japanese) and Jenny and Ryan (Oz), and even spread now amongst some northerners (ha, Jo! and my housemate Lou ( Read more... )

I discovered to my immense disappointment that if I were in the famous five, I may actually be wussy Anne, not plucky George ( Read more... )

I happily joined up to the library here yesterday, they didn't even require proof of address. Libraries are definitely up there in my favourite places to be - they are calm, smell of books, let you use the internet for free, and have a huge range of books you can read whenever you want. Ace. So I spent a happy few hours there, the central library ( Read more... )