Austria

Wow, so much to update you on. I couldn't decide if I was going to do lots of little blog entries, or one big one. I am going with one big entry so here goes.
SALZBURG
Salzburg was beautiful. We really enjoyed our two days there and did loads of touristy activities. We bought a Salzburg tourist card for 25 euros which allowed us to use public transport to get around and free entry to the tourist destinations. We got maximum value out of our card as we went on a cable car ride, took a boat cruise along the river, took a lift up to a look out point, visited the fortress of the city, and finally visited Mozart's birth place and the house he grew up in. We also found a beer house where we wanted to eperience the local drinking traditions. Its tucked away in an alley and as you open the door there is only a long hallway. We were not sure we were in the right place but futher investigaiton along the hallway led us to another door that opened up to an outside area with loads of people drinking steins and eating schnitzel. I could only manage one stein before my tummy was full of beer and meat.

My new jugs!

Streets of Salzburg

View point from the look out. This is the fortress that we visited.

Salzburg at night

VIENNA

Most of the time we were in Austria was spent in Vienna. Vienna is such an easy city to get around as it has great public transport. Nath and I were using the metro and trams like we had lived there all our lives. I had fun making up my own pronunciations of German words! We did a little bit of sight seeing in Vienna but the main reason we were there was for Zane and Romana's wedding and to meet their daughter Lena, who turned 6 months old on the day of the wedding. They had planned lots of activities for the guests to do as most guests had travelled some way and it provided lots of opportunities to catch up with people and meet new ones. We painted plates and cups as a wedding momento, had stag and hens parties, met for dinner at an outdoor film and food festival, obviously the wedding, and then lunch the following day at a great winery just out of the city. The wedding itself was awesome. It was on a boat and we cruised along the Danube river. The party was supposed to end at midnight but we paid the staff to keep going until 1:30am. Then it was time to hit the town and in Naths case loose your bag and get lost! Eventually Nath found his way home in a taxi but because he lost his bag I had to meet his taxi driver to pay his fare. The following day we re-traced our pub route and found his bag which was very lucky.

Painting of the cups and plates

Nath and his neice Lena

The wedding party

Nath and I at the wedding

Schonbrunn Summer Palace - beautiful gardens

BRATISLAVA (not in Austria but Slovakia)
We took a day trip to Bratislava and didnt get a stamp in our passport. Disappointing. It was an hour bus trip and only 11 euros return. We wandered around the local markets and watched some dancers as there was a festival in the main square. There is a castle over looking the city so walked up the hill and had a look around. When it came to lunch time we were surprised at how much cheaper food and drink was. Travelling over an invisable boarder line saved us lots of euros - excellent. Beer was 90 euro cents and wine 1.20. Red bull was really expensive though so because Im good at saving I had a beer instead. Romana later old us that many Viennese people travel to Bratislava to do their shopping as it is worth it for the cheaper prices.

Sadly we are back in London. Next time we see Lena she we will be walking and talking. One of the difficult things about living so far away from home. Check out facebook for loads more photos.

Half a sleep to go

Vienna is jst around the corner - half a sleep tonight then we're off in the wee hours of the morning!
In typical laid back Michelle style I am yet to buy Euro's or travel insurance or pack or find out if I get charged extra for using my mobile in Europe. I have left it to the last day to sort the important stuff out! And its lunch time already, better get a wriggle on.
Just a quick run down for those that want to know - fly in to Vienna Sat, train to Salzburg Sun, return Mon evening to Vienna. Naths family flies in Tues morning, hens party Wed, Wedding Fri, hopefully a trip to Bratislava on Sunday, return to London Mon. Action packed excitment.
A huge thanks to Naths parents who are bringing our ski gear over for us - legends.
Will update the blog with pics and interesting stories upon our return.
Peace out. Go the Black Ferns - win the world cup!

Birthday BBQ

It was Naths birthday yesterday. We had a fun day walking along the Thames and stopping at a pub or two for drinks along the way. My brother bought a disposable BBQ so we had our 1st English BBQ last night.
How many Nathan's dos it take to cook a BBQ? See the answer below.

1

+ 1

= 2 Naths to cook a BBQ!

My Nathan is looking forward to toast in the mornings now the he has NZ marmite that he got for his birthday.
We are very excited about our impending departure to Vienna. 5 more sleeps to go. Nath finally went shopping for black shoes for the wedding, he couldn't put off the shopping any longer. I just realised though the monkey didn't get his hair cut! Will march him down to Big Jims Trims myself and watch it get done. Our only fear is that BAA is threatening to strike. BAA runs things on the ground at airports such as fire trucks, luggage carts etc so airports will have to close if they go on strike. If the strikes go ahead they are scheduled to run over our departure date to Vienna! Fingers crossed they dont happen.
Have retarded flatmate issues at the moment. They have kicked my brother and CJ out because they're taking up too much room and adding to the bills! Duoh Im sure they can pay £ towards the bills. It's just excuses to get them out. Anyway Simon Francis to the rescue - Nath and CJ are going to stay with him for this week and then stay in our room while we're in Vienna. Hopefully they'll be sorted by the time we get back. I think we'll be looking for some Kiwi/Ozzie flatmates before long.
Hope everyone is all good back in NZ.
Auf Wiedersehen (practicing my German!)

Family Day at Putney Park

My Brother has Landed

Brother Nath arrived a week ago. Time has flown by. We have taken the FOPs (Fresh Off the Plane) around London, re-doing the Southbank walk and including a few other stop off's including Westminster Abbey and The National Gallery. Whilst having a quick wander through the mammoth national art gallery we came across 3 Van Gough originals!! Crazy. Just hanging on the wall, no big deal.
Nath boyf (this could get confusing with 2 Naths around) and I have two weeks til we head off to Vienna for Zane's (Naths bro) wedding. Will be good times, and Nath will get to meet his 5 month old niece for the 1st time, which he is looking forward too. We have also bought tickets for the All Blacks v Scotland in Edinburgh on 13th November. What a great reason to visit Scotland. Go the ABs. While Nath as been 'busy' at work he manages to serach for cheap flights on Ryan air and Easy jet. Hopefully we can get away for a weekend in October. Last time we looked there were £5 flights to Hamburg.
Today we indulged in London park culture and met Alicia and Rob at Putney park and hung out for the afternoon. While it seems like a good idea to drink beers in the park, the practicality of not having a toilet close by ruins the buzz. A 10min walk to the nearest pub to pop in for a cheeky whizz soon puts a halt to the afternoon drinking.
While on school holidays I have been busy creating an online photo album of our South America trip. Its a massive 62 pages, and I found it really hard to keep the page numbers down as we have so many amazing photos. The total cost of my creation is $82 USD. Will wait til I have an income to purchase it!
Sorry if some of the pics aren't clear in quality, they are taken from my cell phone.

The Bowler - but not the Dunedin student variety

Following the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's

Westminster Abbey

The Household Cavalry museum

Looking out over Trafalgar Sq from the National Gallery, with Big Ben in the background

Flashing nipples, a vibrator or pheremone cream!

Greenwich

So the weekend ended up being action packed and full of fun. It started with us + Amy watching the All Black's kick kangaroo butt at a pub in Greenwich. By the time the second half began we figured it was a respectable time to have a beer. After the game we went to the Greenwich observatory, where the lines of longitude and latitud are zero, the beginning of time.



We then headed to the Greenwich market where we caught up with Bhav, Emma, Kat and Sam and did some taste testing. We parted ways and our crew headed to the Old Royal Navy College. Lord Nelson was laid in state here in The Painted Hall from 5-7th January 1806. The Painted Hall was incredible, as the name suggests every inch of hall was painted! Nath was keen to check out the maritime museum located on the same site but I think he got the hint that Amy and I were bored so we left after only looking at the ground floor (thankfully).

After our big day out it was time to head home and crack into the drinks as our flatmates decided we should have a flat warming. I hit the hay at 2am when the play station/sing star was busted out. I had an early start as my brother and his girlfriend flew into Heathrow at 5:50am! Needless to say I was pretty useless on Sunday, very low key indeed.

Pram Coll represent