NIKI IN LONDON

Glastonbury (the town not the festival)

2007-04-17T17:25:00.000+01:00

I recently had the pleasure of going to Glastonbury for the weekend. We drove down and stopped at Stonehenge and in Salisbury on the way. Then spent the weekend at a cute bed and breakfast called Hillside and walked up the tor, went to the chalice well gardens and went to the many shops and veggie cafes. Overall a very relaxing and nice weekend. On the way back to London we stopped in Bath and Avebury. Avebury is a bit like Stonehenge, but the rocks are all around the town, it's pretty cool actually.

still waiting for visitors!

2007-03-29T22:21:00.000+01:00

ok so it seems that no one has been telling me that they've booked their flights and they're on the way! so here's some more insentive!

Come on...you know you want to at least take a look and see if you can get a deal! It's worth just a little peak :)

see you soon!
niki x

Come Visit me in England :)

2007-03-16T17:58:00.000Z

A way to see the sights of the UK with a discount (it's worth it really, some of the places can be quite expensive, and this way you save money!)

The tour bus depot is right by my flat! And you've gotta love the double decker buses! There is no better way to see London :)

Again, so many things to do, and a great discount is the only way to do them all!

So what are you waiting for? Book your flight and get over here!

Barcelona!

2007-01-03T16:50:00.000Z

Yes, the entire time that we were in Barcelona I was singing the song! We even rigged the ipod to play in the hotel room so that we could hear it and I could sing at the top of my lungs! Honestly though, I am not the biggest Barcelona fan...we arrived and took the train into the city to get to our hotel. We were on the train for about 10 minutes when some guy tried to pickpocket me. Well more specifically he tried to get into my handbag. Now, I had been warned that Barcelona was bad for this, but I was honestly shocked at how blatant it was. I was wearing a handbag with the smallest strap, the bag was right under my arm and I was holding it tight, so the reason he wasn't successful is because he touched me! So obviously not very good at his job, but as much as I did freak out and everything, I was so in shock that I didn't really do anything to him (which I wish I did now). So after that I was constantly worried about people stealing things from me, and it made me not have a very good time there.
Other than that it is a very pretty place, the Gaudi buildings are fantastic (they remind me of drawings from Dr Seuss books!) and the tapas were yummy (although not many choices for vegetarians, so I did get sick of them). Maybe next time I'll go to Spain in the summer and just pack my bathing suit and spend all day on the beach!

Wales

2006-10-30T16:47:00.000Z

A weekend in Wales was just what we needed! It is so beautiful and peaceful there. I actually found myself happily hiking and just taking in my surroundings. Letting go of stress and smiling. What a well needed break. I'm not going to go on about it more, it was just lovely and I'm so glad that we went. I highly recommend a relaxing weekend in Wales!

where i've been!

2006-09-09T11:16:00.000+01:00

Get your own Trippermap!

slovenia, italy and croatia!

2006-09-09T10:35:00.000+01:00

so we went to slovenia, italy and croatia for 5 days. we actually just flew into slovenia and then rented a car and drove to italy.because it was for such a short time we just went to venice and stayed there for 2 days. i have always heard good things about venice, but i didn't really have too many expectations, so everything was a pleasant surprise.

i loved walking around, taking the water boat, shopping,and especially the food! the italian part of me was definitely very excited to be having real italian food. even the simplest spaghetti tasted better than i could ever imagine. and the "nocciala" gelato(that's hazelnut ice cream) was to die for! everything was great, and even though i thought that a gondola ride was way too expensive and unnecessary, damon insisted! and it was worth it. we went quite late at night so the canals were empty, and we got to see where casanova lived (right beside our hotel!), marco polo, and where vivaldi lived. we also found out some cool facts about venice that we didn't know (like the fact that only 50, 000 people actually live in Venice, but they get 25 million tourists a year!), and saw some parts that you couldn't see by just walking.

then we drove to croatia, again being short on time we just decided to travel around the istrian peninsula and not all of croatia. my dad is from there, so it was nice to travel and have a connection to my heritage. although it would have been nice if i could speak a word of croatian! (it was so much easier to attempt italian than croatian,that's one tough language!)

so we stopped at the beach in porec first (they have such interesting beaches in croatia, not sand but rocks or pebbles, very different, but nice) then went to rovinj to find a place to stay for the night. what a mission! but eventually we found somewhere decent and settled in before going to explore rovinj. it's really interesting cuz you can tell how simple some of these places used to be, before they got really popular with tourists, now everything is a souvenir shop or a tourist information place!

so we stayed in rovinj but took trips to pula (where the roman amphitheatre is, it has been there since the first century AD and used to be used for gladiator fights!) it is amazingly preserved, so much so that they continue to use it for concerts regularly! we also went to motovun, this is the town on top of a mountain, where my dad was born, and some of my family still lives. i didn't go to visit them because we were on a tight schedule (and don't speak croatian) but it was still a lovely place to visit. again very old, filled with history and culture. and their specialty is truffles, so of course we stayed for dinner and had to try them. it was a delicious meal and we had a wonderful time there. we tried from there to find the small town of Bencici (seriously, the one place in the world where my last name is pronounceable, and actually common!) but unfortunately there was construction so all the signs were taken down :( but i did find a few other signs with my name on it, so i did take pictures!

then on our last day we went to novigrad and went to the beach there, i swam in the adriatic sea! it is beautifully clear water, i kept thinking that it was shallow enough to stand up, because i could see the bottom, but it was actually a few meters deep!

it was a fabulous trip, i had such a great time, and can't wait for our next trip now!

visited states

2006-05-30T14:31:00.000+01:00

not quite as impressive as visiting lots of countries, but i've visted 27 % of the states!

create your own visited states map

visited countries

2006-05-30T14:21:00.000+01:00

i've been to only 4% of the world!

create your own visited countries map

back from africa

2006-05-18T16:00:00.000+01:00

going to south africa for a second time was an amazing experience. if you'd like to read more about it here's some snippets from the email i sent out to friends and family:

on damon's birthday his best friend had arranged for him to go cage diving with sharks! so i went along with him (not intending to go in with sharks, just to keep him company on the boat). it was actually a really cool experience. it was a small boat, 2 guys running it and one other guy there to cage dive. we had to go really early in the morning, and went on the boat to seal island (sharks eat seals, so sad) and it's interesting cuz it's actually the only place in the world that sharks breech (jump out of the water) to catch seals. the guys on the boat have actually done quite a few tv specials on these sharks. they've recently done one for a show in the states, and were on the bbc planet earth show. anyway, so we stopped at seal island to see if there were any sharks around, and we had only been stopped a minute when we saw a shark jump out of the water and eat a seal. it all happened so fast! so they put out this decoy that looks like a seal to attract sharks, and right after they put it in the water a shark came up and tried to eat it! but then that shark left, and other sharks would come up to the boat and try to eat it, but then they would swim away. to cage dive they need the sharks to stay around so that you can see them when you go into the water. so unfortunately even though we had at least 5 or 6 massive great white sharks come up to the boat, damon didn't get to go into the water with them. it was a really cool experience though, and we were both happy to be able to see them in action. makes you think twice about swimming in the ocean!

i was conviced that i should try surfing (me, the one who can't swim!) so the next day i got all ready and went out for my first surf (body board really) and i loved it!!!! i struggled at first cuz i was wearing flippers and i couldn't walk in them, and i kept bending my ankle the wrong way, but once i took them off i had a great time! the water was freezing cold but the wetsuit kept me warm. now i regret not going out surfing with damon all those other times, i've been missing out!

then on monday we flew to johannesberg. we arrived there and drove straight to the lion park. as you can guess from the name, they have lions there. lots of them! and little baby lion cubs in an enclosure with baby hyenas, that you can go in with and play with! it was so much fun. and they're not strict at all! you can just play around with them like they're little kittens. they have very sharp claws, i have the lion scars to prove it! it was so worth it. we also drove around there and saw some grown up lions...very active grown up lions! we saw them mating, and we saw a lioness feeding her cubs, very eventful! they also had other animals there, and we got to feed the giraffes which was good fun as well.

it was about a 2 hour drive from johannesberg to the pilansberg game park, and we stopped along the way at a cute looking african village place, and it turned out to be the one that they went to on the amazing race! how cool!

we arrived at the pilanesberg which is basically a huge national park, it's all fenced in and has lots of african animals inside. in the park they can roam free with each other, they just can't get out of the park. it has the big 5 (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo) although we didn't actually see all of them. we stayed in a luxury tent which was just outside of the park (no one actually stays in the park, there are lions roaming around!). it was a really big tent with a real bed, a proper bathroom and even a little fridge. the best part was that there was an electric heater, it got really cold at night! we stayed there for 4 days (3 nights) basically spending the day getting up very early to drive through the park and spot animals when they just woke up, coming back for breakfast, going out for another drive, then going out for dinner. we saw so many animals! quite a few different types of antelope (kudu, impala, springbok, etc), 2 different herds of elephants and one big male elephant (who tried to charge at a car), a few different giraffe families (so graceful), lots of white rhinos (2 that stayed in the road pushing each other and play fighting, so we eventually had to turn the car around and go the other way or we would miss breakfast), hippos in the water, warthogs, zebras came really close and a whole herd crossed the street right in front of the car, a few mongoose crossing the road (is it mongeese? or mongooses?), a jackal (he was quick, we were lucky to see him, our only predator that we spotted!), and we could hear lions on 2 different mornings, but the grass was tall and they must have good hiding spots because we never saw them. if you want to look up more about pilanesberg here is a website
http://www.tourismnorthwest.co.za/pilanesberg/

we also went to sun city one day while we were up there.
http://www.suninternational.com/resorts/suncity/
it's basically a big resort, it was once the only place in south africa that you could gamble which made lots of people go there. now it's just a fun place to go. even though the water was cold we spent most of the day at valley of the waves, playing in the wave pool, going on water slides and in the lazy river (which was not all relaxing as a bird pooped on me and there were strong water sprays of cold water!) then we walked around and played some games and did a little bit of gambling.

night of the iguana

2005-12-03T13:14:00.000Z

went to see night of the iguana last night, starring woody harrelson! i finally used a theatre gift certificate that i got for my birthday (7 months ago!!!) to buy the tickets, and i was really looking forward to it cuz we haven't been to the theatre in ages!

and it was really good, i love the theatre! the actors were all terrific, and at one point they had a rain storm on the stage, with real water! i want to be in a play like that!

the only problem was the seats, so tiny! so it wasn't a very comfortable way to sit for nearly 3 hours, but it was worth it!

feeling like a londoner

2005-09-19T09:43:00.000+01:00

there are some days that all the problems just seem to be far in the background. no need to worry about not having a job or having to find a new flat, just happy to be in london. yesterday we went to the thames festival, and it was one of those days. we just walked all along the river, and saw some places that we had never seen before. there were stalls selling food and little crafty things from around the world, and all kinds of street performers. we basically ate our way along the river. walked all the way from the waterloo bridge to the tower bridge, and then back. there was a parade in the evening and then fireworks. it was just so nice and the perfect london day. i really felt happy and proud to live here. now if only that feeling will last through the week!

viva la france!

2005-08-30T14:23:00.000+01:00

paris was really great! we took the eurostar, and we went first class so that we would get food. it was good, i thought that i would freak out more about being in the tunnel for so long (underneath the english channel for about 20 minutes) but it was fine. and they cleverly feed you while you're in the tunnel so it helps your ears not to pop so much.

we arrived at the train station in paris and i managed to buy us tickets for the metro in french, and i even understood what the guy said back to me, so i felt good after that, i knew i'd be able to speak a bit of french to get us by. so we got to the hotel and checked in, and i thought that the guy kind of laughed at our request in the computer about the room with a view of the eiffel tower. so when we got up to our room i figured that i wouldn't see anything when i pulled back the curtains, but there it was!!! all lit up and beautiful, i was so excited! and every hour at night all the lights are bright and twinkle, it's so nice. and we even had a little balcony to sit on and look at it.

most of the time we spent just wandering around and seeing some of the sights. i loved just sitting in cafes and watching the world go by (although a small tip, don't just order "cafe" if you want coffee, because apparently that means espresso in france!) and i loved the arc de triomphe and going on a boat trip along the seine. and of course going up the eiffel tower was great, seeing all of paris from up that high. unfortunately there was a power failure while we were up there and so we had to take the stairs down! but it was still really great.

the only thing that really surprised me about paris was that we had trouble finding a nice restaurant. they had hardly any real restaurants, just cafes and brasseries, and there was hardly anything for vegetarians to eat. and at the one restaurant we ate at, we were sitting outside and a mouse ran by us and a woman let her child pee right on the road by the tables!!! and it smelled like pee in the metro stations and stuff as well, people in paris seem to just pee anywhere! what the heck???

Overall it was a really good weekend though, and i enjoyed paris. the croissants, pain au chocolat and nutella crepes made up for all of the not so good restaurant food! i would love to go back with heaps of money to spend in all those designer shops, and i'd do a bit of research to find out where some nicer restaurants are!

au revoir!

back in london :)

2005-08-06T15:03:00.000+01:00

well, i'm back in london again. it seemed like a really short trip to canada. ran around visiting people for a week or so, but then spent most of the time at my mom's place in peterborough. if you're ever in peterborough, go to a great store called KINDRED SPIRITS on rubidge street, its the best!!! on another note, while i was in canada, i was on a bus somewhere (i think from toronto to london, ontario) anyway i heard someone's mobile ring, and it was the ring that marisa has on the oc!!!! i thought that was really cool and i want it, but i can't find it anywhere, so if you know what type of phones have it or where to download it please let me know!!!

anyway, now i'm back in london. home sweet home :) lots of organising to do before september...i can't believe i'm going to be a supply teacher, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

i'm in CANADA

2005-07-29T03:14:00.000+01:00

hi all,
been a little while :) i'm in canada now, home sweet home...it's great to be with the people that i missed and see the things that i missed...and the new things here! there is a great new shop in Peterborough called Kindred Spirits that sells all kinds of crystals and great gifts, you should definitely check it out!

but of course i'm missing lots of things in my new home too. i'm excited that england has decided to welcome me back and give me a visa, woo-hoo! that's all for now, i'm tired. goodnight :)

tragedy

2005-07-11T09:10:00.000+01:00

it's strange to even write about what happened last thursday. i'm so used to writing about happy things, and it was such a good week up until that point. it was my last week of university, london had just won the olympic bid, after live 8 it looked like the leaders at the G8 summit were actually going to talk about poverty. then everything changed. i got up early on thursday because i had an appointment with a teaching agency. i was going to leave earlier so i could take the train with damon, but i got distracted by checking my email so i left a bit later. i took the train to vauxhall and that was fine, and then when i got to vauxhall tube station i was trying to get to the ticket machine, but there was a huge queue. then a man came out and said that the victoria line wasn't running because of a power failure. i thought that was really strange but headed outside to phone damon. he was at work already so i got him to look to see if there was another route i could take. by the time that he phoned back to tell me i could take the northern line and the picadilly line, they had announced that all of the underground was shut down because of this power failure. i called the agency to rebook the appointment for friday, but i wasn't too upset because it was my last lecture at university, and i was quite happy to go to that instead. as the trains were still running i took the train to barnes and then a bus to university as normal. i talked to a few friends and found out that they were not coming to the lecture, one because she had to take the tube as well, she said that she had heard there was some kind of security alert. another friend texted me something about explosions, but i still had no idea what was really going on. even sitting in the lecture at university i heard whispers about explosions and a bus blowing up, but none of it seemed real. it wasn't until the lecture was over at noon and we all turned our phones back on that the news started really coming in. my mobile was not working, as many peoples were not (to keep the lines open for emergencies as well as stopping people from detenating bombs from their mobiles) and so i just waited to hear from other people. i was so glad that i had already spoken to damon that morning and knew that he was ok. we finally found a television and that's when it all hit me. seeing that bus torn apart, there are no words to describe how i felt, fear and sadness and anger all at once. i was on a bus at the same time that happened.
we had our celebration picnic inside because of the weather, but it was no celebration. i didn't stay long, was offered a ride home from a friend and thought that was a much better idea than taking a bus and train that day. i got home to a slew of worried phone calls and emails. i can't even imagine waking up in canada and seeing that on the news, how scary. i just felt helpless for the rest of the day. glued to the tv, wishing that i could do something, but not being able to move.
i took the tube the next day to go to that appointment. i need a job and there's no other way to get there. it was a strange feeling, but i was surprised to see so many people on the tube with me. it just shows that londeners are resilient and they keep on going.
i feel so bad for all of the people who were injured and who lost their lives in this, and for all of their loved ones. i know what a relief it was to hear that everyone that i knew was ok, and i can't imagine if it was the other way around. it's just wrong that all of these people had to suffer so that someone could prove a point. it's senseless.

LIVE 8!!!

2005-07-04T21:15:00.000+01:00

The best concert experience ever!!!

Live 8 was so incredible! Here’s what happened…we woke up fairly early (even though we were tired from the Canada Day party the night before) and got ready to go. We left the house around 9:30 am and took the train and then the tube. On the tube on the way there we saw loads of other people who were going, but managed to get there without too much fuss. We walked straight through the first gates and walked for a while down this long path with lots of other people. They were selling souvenir guide books for £10, but we thought it was a bit expensive and too heavy to carry around all day, so we were going to wait until the end to get one. So then we were in the huge queue waiting for the gates to open and we sat down for a while, until they started the sound checks and we could hear u2 playing, then everyone started moving forwards. So we had to stand up then (and basically for the rest of the day!) The gates opened and we went in, people started to run then, we were so far back from the stage! So we walked fast, found a nice area that we would try to return to, and went to get some food. Damon also bought me a t-shirt, it’s really cool, it’s got the live 8 symbol but with a union jack flag in the guitar, then it says all the bands that were there on the back. So we got some food and sat down for a few minutes waiting for the concert to start.

Then it began! There was a marching band up on stage for about 5 seconds, then out come Paul McCartney and U2 to sing Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was amazing!!!!! I couldn’t believe that I was really there seeing Paul McCartney and U2!!!!! So then U2 continued their set and did Beautiful Day letting all of these doves free from the stage, and it was so cool. Now I don’t like birds and was a bit afraid that they would poop on us, but they were just flying around the crowd in a formation through the whole song! So they did some more songs, really incredible, and then when they finished we would see what was happening on other countries up on the big screen. At this point I think it was just Japan we were seeing because they had started so much earlier. The next band up was Coldplay. They were amazing as well!!! I was really excited cause they sang a few of their hits and then a new song that I love called Fix You, it was incredible!!! Then after that it was Elton John who I was really excited to see! I was a bit sad cause he didn’t really sing any of my favourites, I thought he had some strange song choices (The Bitch is Back and Saturday Night’s Alright) and then he did a duet with Pete Doherty that was pretty crappy (he was good, Pete was out of it!) Then they showed us Tom Cochrane live from Barrie and I got out my flag to wave and sang along ! Then there was Dido, she was really good. She did some duets with Yousou N’Dour (an African singer) so that was really cool. Stereophonics were really good, it was cool to see them in concert now that I’m more familiar with their music. Then we saw Bryan Adams live from Canada, my flag came out again to wave and be proud! Then there was REM…I have loved REM since I was about 12, so finally seeing them live was amazing. When they did Everybody Hurts and the whole audience was singing along it was so unreal I started to cry (not a lot don’t worry). Ok then Ms Dynamite (crap) and Keane were really good! They did all of their big hits and people were singing so that was cool. After they were done it went live to Will Smith in Philadelphia and he did a really good intro and got everyone in the different countries to say hi to each other, so they said hi to us, then we said hi to Rome, Rome to Paris….then to Canada and when Canada came on the big screen I had my flag out and I was screaming like crazy. Then everyone around us in the crowd turns and stares at me! Awkward pause…then they all started cheering for me!!!! Damon says that I turned bright red! It was really cool though. Will Smith also got everyone at all the concerts to snap their fingers every 3 seconds to represent the children dying in Africa (like in the ads) it was a really powerful statement. That was the interesting thing about the concert, as amazing as it was there kept being these reminders of why we were there, videos of starving children and stuff. It was really depressing, but just showed how important the whole thing was. After that was Travis, they were really good, when they did Why does it Always Rain on me? people all got out their umbrellas and sang along, it was cool. Then Bob Geldof had to sing of course, he did (his only hit with the Boomtown Rats) I Don’t Like Mondays, it was actually pretty good. Then there was Annie Lennox, very good, UB40 – kind of strange but fun to sing along to Red Red Wine, Snoop Dogg (I took the opportunity to sit down and have a rest, not really interested in him and his ego and have naked dancers). Razorlight were really good and then Bob Geldof showed the original children in Africa starving video and brought out the girl from the video who just graduated university (woo-hoo!) and then she stayed on stage while Madonna sang (she looked a bit uncomfortable, poor girl) but Madonna was really good as well, no matter what people say I love her and I thought she put on a great show (she sang Like a Prayer – I thought of you Kristy!) Then Snow Patrol were good, The Killers were good, Joss Stone was good but I wish that she had chosen different songs, the Scissor Sisters put on a really fantastic show, they got everyone to say hi to their moms before they did Take Your Mama (so I said hi to you mom, and Damon said hi to you Margaret!). Then Velvet Revolver were on, and I don’t think that many people know them that well, so they were good but people didn’t really seem to be singing along much. Scott Weiland is so funny with his prancy dance, it was making me laugh! Then Sting was on, he did Message in a Bottle and everyone sang along, it was great! Mariah Carey was next, she is such a diva! People were booing her cause she kept doing weird stuff, asking for a mic stand and getting someone to bring her water to drink out of a straw…I can’t explain it, she was just being really funny. By this time they have announced that they are really running behind schedule, it was supposed to end at 9:30 pm, then that day we heard it would end after 10, but they were now announcing it would be after 11, so some people had to leave in order to catch their train home. Ok then it was Robbie Williams, and it’s strange but I think that he had one of the best performances of the night. He started with We Will Rock You and had everyone doing the clapping, and then did a few of his songs that everyone sang along to, and ended with Angels (I love that song!), which he hardly sang cause the whole audience sang all of it! Then it was The Who, they were the surprise guests, and they were good, but I was a bit disappointed cause I wasn’t very familiar with their songs. Then it was Pink Floyd, by this point we had moved up a bit cause some people had left. They were so good, I can’t even describe how cool it was to see them back together, and I’m not even that big of a fan, we have some good videos of them (and some other ones too) so email me if you want the videos and I’ll send a link to them. Ok then it was the best part, Paul McCartney came back on and I was freaking out, he sang Get Back and it really hit me that I was seeing a Beatle! (again I cried, but just a little) Then he did Drive My Car, with George Michael! Then Helter Skelter, then moved over to the piano for The Long and Winding Road (words cannot describe it) and then everyone came out (all the bands and Bob Geldof, etc) for Hey Jude. They didn’t really do the whole song, just “na na na, nananana, nananana, Hey Jude”, over and over again for a really long time! And then it was over, at around midnight I think, I was surprised that they didn’t end with Do They Know it’s Christmas like they did at Live Aid but it was fine. We started heading out with the crowd and some started up Hey Jude again, so there we were, this huge crowd of people na na naing all the way out. It was really cool!
So then came the hard part, with sore feet trying to find a way home. We had planned to take a taxi home but didn’t realise quite how many streets were closed. What a strange feeling walking down central London streets with no cars on them! Eventually we got to a tube station and made our way home, got back at around 2 am. What a day!

To see pictures go tohttp://www.damonmorgan.plus.com/

concert

2005-06-18T11:14:00.000+01:00

Well I was just supposed to come home from school today and rest and clean the house, but as it turned out there was an extra ticket for me to go to a concert. So I went to see Johnny Clegg with my boyfriend and his family. Johnny Clegg is a South African performer (my bf is South African) and so the place was packed with South Africans. I was a bit worried since I didn’t really know much of his music. I had heard some of his stuff, but not much. It turned out to be really great, and I really enjoyed myself. It was at the Hammersmith Apollo, which is mostly just a standing area. It was probably the hottest day of the year so far, and we were packed in there! I’m not so good about being in a crowd and being hot, but I was ok for a while, thinking that the guy behind me just happened to keep brushing up against me…until I realised that it was no accident…gross! I made Damon stand behind me, and explained to him why a bit later. Then a few songs later we see the girl behind me call her boyfriend over…the sicko had moved on and done it to her too! Apparently there are these concert pervs out there, who just stand behind different girls and act like it’s just crowded. Be careful girls!

tickets!!!

2005-06-15T19:13:00.000+01:00

This is so exciting, seriously, things like this don’t happen to me! I won tickets to Live 8!!!! All week I’ve been complaining cuz most people got their texts to tell them that they won on Monday, and then all these tickets went on sale for way too much money on ebay and there was this whole big fuss. It really annoyed me because we had been texting all last week and really wanted to win, really wanted to go to the concert and have the experience, but all that these people wanted was to make money. Seriously some people had tickets on there for 500 pounds or more. And they all had excuses and whatever, but honestly, who doesn’t look at their calendar to at least check that they can go before trying for tickets? Anyways, I was really annoyed and feeling sad that I wouldn’t be able to go, when I turned on my phone today (Wednesday) and there it was, my winning text!!! And these tickets are definitely not for sale! So here’s the deal, this huge concert in Hyde Park, with almost every incredible band or performer in the world. I get to see Paul McCartney, U2, REM, Madonna, Coldplay, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Velvet Revolver, Robbie Williams, Joss Stone, Stereophonics, Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol…Even when I think about it, it’s too much. I always forget about one of the major bands and then think, wow, I’m going to see them too! Needless to say I am very excited! And it just happens to fall on July 2nd. I finish my great big placement on July 1st, which is also Canada Day, a fun night out at the Maple Leaf Pub in Covent Garden, and then Live 8 the next day. The best weekend ever! I can’t wait!!!

moving to zurich!

2005-04-22T18:42:00.000+01:00

ok that's a lie, i'm not really moving to zurich, but i would love to! it is such a beautiful city. i just couldn't stop saying it. that first morning there i fell in love with it and decided that i didn't want to leave. it felt extremely european. it made being in london seem boring and common. the beautiful old buildings and adorable little shops....it's just incredible! i don't even know how to describe, but i do highly recommend going. not with a specific plan, just for a wander around and an exploration. it's definitely worth it!

going to zurich!!!

2005-04-15T14:01:00.000+01:00

i am going to zurich in just a few hours! it's very exciting, i haven't been on a plane for a while (since going to south africa at christmas) and i love travelling! it's going to be so nice, just being in this city that i know nothing about and exploring it. mostly i'm just looking forward to finding a really good fondue!
have a great weekend everyone!

penny lane is in my ears, and in my eyes...

2005-03-29T18:05:00.000+01:00

wow, so it has been a while since i've written in here, i know! but it's been a busy time! damon came back from snowboarding safely (well somewhat, he did injure his ribs quite badly) and since then i have just been getting ready for when my mom cam, and now she is here!
so we did some london stuff for a few days, and then set out on our easter roadtrip on friday! we went to windsor castle first, it was closed because the queen was there, but it is still beautiful from the outside! there is tonnes of funny souvenirs from the shops around there, since that's where charles and camilla will be married (near the castle anyways, there's all this controversy) So then we drove to stonehenge, which is really amazing. i think that i went there not expecting too much, but you can't help but be taken in by it.
then (still on friday, it was a long day) we drove to coventry, where damon's family lives and stayed there at his aunts for the night.
saturday morning we got up and headed to stratford-upon-avon. my second visit, but still just as wonderful and magical. i love shakespeare! (i'm such a geek!) and i got to buy all the stuff that i didn't last time, like the romeo and juliet fingerpuppets! (watch out kiddies, you're in for a treat!)
and then we drove from there to liverpool, which was quite far. we got there just in time to check into the hotel, find a pizza express for dinner, and get some sleep. sunday was the big day in liverpool. got up and went to the beatles story (sort of a beatles museum) which we didn't think would take that long....3 hours later, we were done! it was really cool, anything and everything you ever wanted to know about the beatles! there was a recreated cavern club, tonnes of memorabilia, and john lennon's white piano, it was really amazing! so then of course we shopped a bit and bought some souvenirs, then headed to the cavern quarter (a part of the city centre where the cavern club used to be, and now the rebuilt one is) we walked around and saw the club, statue of john lennon, eleanor rigby statue and the beatles store (but it was closed!)
so then on monday we needed to finish all of our beatles tour, we returned to the cavern quarter to go into the store and the cavern club! it was really cool! then we drove out into the suburbs to find the houses that john and paul grew up in, strawberry field and penny lane :) it was really surreal to think that it was really where they lived and grew up and everything.
ok so then it was the long and winding road back to london! (my first beatles pun, so sue me!) and it took a while, but it was ok.
back in london now relaxing a bit before we head out for more sightseeing and shopping tomorrow! watch out harrods, here we come!
niki :)

run doggy run!

2005-02-19T06:53:00.000Z

london offers such strange experiences....getting together with everyone from uni meant going to someone's house for thai green curry (which i didn't eat because there was chicken in it, but the point is, that at home we would have had pizza) and then going to the dog races in wimbledon. i'm not really sure how i feel about dog races either...i wonder if the dogs are really happy? they do like chasing things (as damon pointed out) but do they like running around in a circle? do they know that they're competing against each other? and they look so skinny, they're the sad supermodels of dogs :( i did place a couple of bets, but i didn't win. i came home fairly early because i'm still all plugged up with sinusitis, and the mysterious back pain continues as well.

at least i have a week off now (sort of) so hopefully i'll have time to recuperate and feel better before going back to uni.

i see london i see france, i see pacey in his underpants...

2005-02-18T07:02:00.000Z

so i went to see a life in the theatre tonight, and it was really good! i can understand why some people might not have loved it, because it doesn't have a really strong story line, just good characters and brilliant writing. patrick stewart is an amazing actor, and joshua jackson was so cute (and really good as well) and yes, they did all of their costume changes on stage, so i saw pacey in his underwear! (and patrick stewart as well, not so pleasant)

i highly recommend the show to anyone in london, it's definitely worth seeing! now what should i see next?

day off, woo-hoo!

2005-02-17T02:09:00.000Z

i have the day off today, so you would think that i would accomplish a lot...but no, not really! i talked to my mom and made plans for when she comes to visit, that's exciting! we're going to see a lot of london sites as well as stonehenge, windsor castle, stratford-upon-avon, and liverpool!!!

i'm going to see pacey tomorrow in a life in the theatre, that's exciting too! hopefully i won't have to blow my nose too much during the show (i have sinusitis) that would be embarassing, it would get his attention though!

dinner with jamie oliver....but he forgot to show up!

2005-02-14T08:34:00.000Z

it was all very exciting to be having dinner at fifteen (jamie oliver's restaurant) if only we hadn't got completely lost trying to find it! but when we did get there it was worth it, there were estee lauder gift bags on the table for us, and we each got a full size beyond paradise cologne! so that was cool! the food was good (well mine was terrific and damon's was just ok, but he didn't order anything that fancy sounding) and the waiter almost spilled wine all over us, except that damon has super fast reflexes and caught it in mid air! and the best part was the chocolate tart that we had for dessert, so yummy! defnitely worth it for the experience, even though we didn't see jamie, i could feel his presence!

happy valentine's day!! xoxo