The Aussie Envasion

So I'll tell you about the things we did in Paris since I last blogged but today is a VERY special day. Why is that? Well we have been in England for a couple of nights now and today was the royal wedding!! Now, I really couldn't care less about the royal family and I'm Aussie so I have no reason to care at all but England was soooooooo hyped up about this wedding! People had been camping out on the route from Kate's hotel to the Abbey for days! It was unbelievable! We are staying with mums second cousins and his family in Pelsal (not far from Birmingham) and we've been party of a (very small in the sceme of things) street-party. We watched the wedding on TV and then came out into the street and had a bbq for lunch and stuff. Watching it on TV though was incredible. The amount of people just waiting outside for a small glipms was mind-blowing. Watching them all surging behind the police line towards the Palace.... When we visit London in a few days it going to be amazing visiting Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace and just thinking only a few days ago there were thousands of people here and Kate and Wills got married.....

Anyway enough of that because I'm probably boring you guys to death!

Things we did in Paris since I last wrote...
We visited the Lourve which was alright but the Mona Lisa isn't really that spectacular, I thought, and that was kind of the main thing to see.
We also visited the Musee De L'Orangerie which I LOVED :) It has Monets waterlillys in 2 big oval room and they are really calming and there are quite a few other paintings by artists like Picasso and stuff.
We visited Sacre Coeur whic is quite a stunning and lovely church.
We made a stop of at Angelina's for the Worlds Best Hot Chocolate.... SO GOOOD!
And we made a visit to Disneyland where the little girl came out of me a little when I ensisted we go on at least a few of the rides in the "FantasyLand" section :) Oh, and then I went and bought some MiniMouse ears :) Space Mountain is AMAZING though :) The only bad part of the day was when we were on the metro on the way home and the power to the train line we were on went out literally a couple of hundred meters from our station and we had to wait 20 mins at about 11 at night with Ben....... not fun.

I think that was just about everything we did in Paris and then on Wednesday we caught the train from Paris to London and then on to iringham and got picked up by Graham and Colin (Graham is my mums 2nd cousin and Colin is his dad). So we are staying with Graham, his wife Estellle and their 2 boys Nathan and Jacob. Nathan is Bens age and Ben went to school with him yesterday. While ben was at school, Graham, Estelle, Mum, Dad, Joel and I went and had a picnic in a park. Then Mum and Estelle had to pick up the boys from school but there was a high ropes course there so Graham, Dad, Joel and I had a go on it. I was really fun except when you finished one part you had to slide down a zip wire to get to the ground and on to the next stage but if you didn't come in facing forward then you were garentied to be covered in Tambark! I managed to land forwards the last 2 times but dad got COVERED in tambark on the very last zip wire :P LOL! We got certificates from the guys at the end and dad's said "Andy the Aussie".

Everyone here is really nice. The accent's a tad hard at times and I'm not completely sure that Jacob can understand anything we're saying :P We have 2 more nights here (including tonight) before we head to Cambridge for 2 nights with dads work collegues and then down to London for another 5 nights there.

I hope that everything is well in Mebourne and GO SAINTERS !!!!! :) (nobody has any clue about AFL over here :P)
Love, Kisses and Hugs,
Emma xxxxxx

Picture Perfect Paris!

So I realised I hadn't blogged for a while so here is a bit of a recap of Venice :)

Riding the Gondala was amazing and terifing at the same time. The boat feels quite unstable but you can't stop smiling as you are taking down various canals with all sorts of people watching you when you are near bridges. Our gondalaier wasn't very chatting but one of the other guys told us he had been in the business for ages and was very good. He certainly proved himself because he managed to keep us from crashing when at several times it was quite likely that we would.

In our last night in Venice we went out for Pizza. Italian pizza is 1million times better that any pizza in Australia!! I had the most enormous coke ever (see photos 2.0) and the waiter gave Ben the nickname "BigBoss". That was a good laugh. The pizza was good but not the best we had in Venice. The best we had in Venice we had in a little cafe not far from the railway station while we were waiting. We had wanted a drink but ended up staying and ordering 2 pizzas for a light, early dinner. The Riccota and Spinach was delicous!

After a long and pretty uncomfortable train ride we are now in Paris though!

Paris is very beautiful and kind of what you expect but also kind of not! The thing I love about Europe is that everyone is pretty laid back-especially when it comes to safety in everyday life! No one wears helmets while bike riding and when the buzzer goes to warn that the doors are shutting on the metro, you need to decide whether you are on or off pretty quickly or you'll be (one of the,I expect, several) recipients of a nice and decent bruise!

Another thing I have found out is that my french is not half as good as I thought it was! They speak so fast and only when we arrived did I realise I knew how to say "Fish" in french (Poisson) but not "5 metro tickets please!" This is especially difficult when you are expected to be thefrench expert as you learn french at school. It's almost lucky that dad has been mega keen on learning the different languages (Although it got kinda annoying when every half an hour he was taking my hand and saying "enchante") He thinks it makes him multi-lingual because he can say a few words in Italian and French (and also Japanese as I found out yesterday but he can only say hi and1,2,3 ect.) but he is NOT! I on the other hand managed to order a crepe today without using any English. This included telling the lady I was Australian and I learn French at school!

Yesterday we climbed the Effiel Tower. The queues were around 10 kms long but when you get up there it is all worth it! The view is pretty spectacular and the information up there is really good. We walked the 704 steps to the second level and (after much flim-flamming around) we got the lift to the summit. The view was quite nice :)

Other things??
We went to visit the Catacombes today but unfortunately they were closed today.
We also visited the Arc de Triomphe but we couldn't get up into it because they were about to start some military service. We are hoping to go tonight.
Angelinas tomorrow (aparently the best hot chocolate in the world) and Disneyland Tuesday :D

That is all for now :)
Au Reviour,
Emma xxxxxxx

PS Feel free to leave me comments at the end of my blogs and I'll hopefully get back to you :)

Photos 2.0 :)

We found a statue that looked just like Joel and Ben! 

Ben & I at the Pizzeria :)

Ben & I waiting for the bus in Venice (Yes, the bus)

Joel and I at the Piazzale Michelangelo :)

The view over Firenze :)

GELATI!!!!

Gondola ride in Venice :)

On the Grande Canal :)

He didn't notice a thing!!

Murano Island :)

Murano

At the Museo della Musique (my flute teacher will be so proud of me)

MY MASSIVE COKE!!! (it was bigger than it looks) IT WAS A MEDIUM!!!

On the bus :)

Out the apartment window in Venice :)

PIZZA!!!!

On the train to Paris!

Welcome to the Maze!

If there is one place you never want to lose your map, it's Venice. Without a map you are lost for days in a maze of alleyways, bridges and piazzas/squares. With a map it is hard enough! Venice isn't actually that big. Maybe 2 or 3 kms from side to side but the main part of Venice isn't huge. The problem is there seems to be no direct path from one point to another unless you want to get to the other end of the street! Even then sometimes the street bends. You are constantly double backing on yourself and heading in the wrong direction because it is the only way to get the place you want to go. There are streets that are dead ends, always rightin the corner that you can't see until you are about 2 meters away and bridges that you have to cross over and then cross over the canal again 20 meters after because there is no path on your side. It is amazing though. Everyone is so calm and unfased. Hardly anyone seems to be in a rush to get anywhere (mostly because alot of people are tourists)

You are almost constantly surrounded by water in Venice but after a while you are desensitised to it. You don't notice it, well you do but it's not like "WOW water!That's amazing!" It's like "another bridge okayyy oh pretty water and gondalas! I want to go on one of them!" (Bens very keen on going on a gondala)

Venice is a very beautiful place. You can see why so many people come here. It can also be fairly tiring though. You are constantly going over bridges and trying to find out where you are. When it comes to the end of the day, you are very glad just to put your feet up, have a nice meal and enjoy the view from the comfort of a chair.

Should you come to Venice? Yes, it's gorgeous and I must do for all people in the Europian area.
Bring a map? Definitly. And do not lose it, whatever you do. Just keep your hand nice and tight around that map if you ever want to find your way back to your accommodation.
Have a good time? It's hard not to. Venice is gorgeous.

Well that is my update. I know it hasn't been much about what we've been doing but thats mostly been walking around and poking about in shops :P

Ciao,
Emma xxxxxx

Fantastic Florence

So we’re not actually in Florence anymore (we are on the train to Venice) but I didn’t actually write anything in Florence, sorry! Sure I put my past blog entries up and some photos but I didn’t actually say anything that we did in the amazing city that is Firenze! So here it is:

When we got into Florence, the apartment we were staying in was a 100 meter walk from the station. The owner of the apartment, Ana, was there to meet us. She was really nice and dad had a good time talking to her (but switching between English and Italian the whole time). We went down to the little market that was set up in the piazza below for lunch and tried arancini balls. So Yum! We then went for a walk around the city and went over the Ponte Vecchio and found this gorgeous little mask shop. Then we wandered around for half an hour trying to find the supermarket before dad saw someone with a bag from there and asked them. Turns out we had walked past there several times but just hadn’t noticed because it said supermarcarto really small!

In the morning of the next day, we went and climbed the dome of the Duomo. We saw the paintings on the ceiling of the dome up close which were really quite spectacular. Then we went up the top outside and saw the view over Florence. Really spectacular! We went back to the apartment for lunch (another arancini ball) before going to the Palazzo Vecchio were we had a guided tour (in English & designed for kids) and went back to the 1500s to meet the Duchess of the castle.

Yesterday morning we walked across the river and up to Piazzale Michelangelo to look at the view over Florence. Florence really is a beautiful city! Then in the afternoon we walked across the river to the most amazing gelati shop ever! Very yummy J. Then we walked around a bit and found the gardens of Palazzo Pitti. The gardens were really pretty and Ben had a great time walking around the “Beautiful Paths” as he called them. Then we walked back to the apartment for dinner before going out for ice-cream and a quick walk around the city to see the Duomo at night.

This morning we packed up the apartment and then visited the Santa Maria Novella which was right outside our apartment. Not long after we got back, Ana arrived to clean the apartment but she let us leave our bags while we went out for an arancini ball lunch. Then we collected our bags and headed to the station. Now we are on the train headed to Venice. Mum says we are staying in a palace in Venice! An apartment that is in some old palace or something, I’m not completely sure. We will be there soon J

I’ll right more as soon as I can,

Emma xxxxxx J

(I wrote this earlier today)

Photos :D

The view from the top of the Basilica in the Vatican City!

Mum and I in the Basilica

Joel and I on top of the Basilica

Ben and I sending postcards from the Vatican post office

Blogging in Dubia

At the carousel in Piazza Della Republica

Walking up inside Castel Sant Angelo

The angel on top of Castel Sant Angelo

The AMAZING chocolate shop (and cafe) we found!

Posing in front of the colesseum :)

Ben and I in the colosseum

Colosseum :)

The Duomo in Firenze

Massage chairs in Singapore airport

In front of our plane at Melbourne Airport

Going as fast as we could on the rickshaw :P

In front of the fountain at the Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps

Ben and I getting ready to throw our coins into the Trevi Fountain

In front of the Victory Palace

Going down the spiral staircase in the basilica (Vatican City)

Basilica

This ones for Maddy!!!! Archaeologists working :)

The view from our apartment in Rome

Looking out the window of our apartment in Firenze :) (Florence)

Roma in Review

So we are on the train heading from Roma to Firenze (Florence in English) and I thought I’d go through some of the highlights of the beautiful city of Roma!

·         The Colosseum. It was amazing being inside one of the most famous ancient structures in the world. It was hard to comprehend that it was built over 2000 years ago and it is still standing today.

·         Trevi Fountain. This was probably my favourite thing in Roma. The fountain is so amazing and gorgeous. It was something I hadn’t really heard about before we went to Roma but it is a beautiful fountain that I absolutely loved!

·         The Vatican City and St Peters Basilica. The basilica is just amazing, stunning and beautiful beyond words. The walls are covered in mosaics and statues as well as stunning marble. Climbing to the top was amazing. We looked down over the inside of the church before climbing some more to the top of the dome and looking outside over the city. The view was absolutely spectacular!

·         Pantheon. While this wasn’t the most spectacular church we visited it has a lot of historical significance and it was still interesting.

·         Piazza Navona. The biggest Piazza in Roma was filled with painters, street actors and people trying to sell things. It is lined with cute little shops. It is also home to the best Gelataria we found in Roma!

·         The Roman Forum. This is a place that was once the centre of an empire. This is probably something to do first thing as it requires a fair bit of imagination to see what it would’ve looked like in its prime because now it is a pile of ruins. The atmosphere is great though and it has some interesting things to look at up nice and close.

·         The Palatino. The Palatino was an interesting and lovely. There were all sorts of ruins and even some archaeologists working there! We got an audio guide and it had all sorts of information. The gardens were beautiful too!

That is just half of what we did in the amazing city of Roma and can’t wait to see more of this gorgeous country that is Italy!!

Love Emma xxxx

(I actually wrote this today!)

Ciao From Pizza-a-go-go Land!

So we are in Rome now but I still don’t have internet access but I am writing this anyway.

Rome is so beautiful. So far we have visited the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatino, the Victory Palace, the Trevi Fountain, the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Basilica di SS Cosma e Damino and the Villa Borghese (a big park in Rome). At Villa Borghese, we hired a Rickshaw for an hour and drove around (rather crazily I dare say).

Which brings me to my next point. The Italians are crazy drivers. I mean seriously crazy. Our driver from the airport to our apartment was speeding, talking on the phone, without a seatbelt and constantly switching lanes. Also, you should see the parking. Vespas are squeezed into the smallest spaces, cars are half put into spaces or on corners. Mum said before that it seemed that if there was no car park-just stop the car and get out. It is extremely entertaining.

So far my favourite thing has been the Trevi Fountain. It is beautiful beyond belief and Ben and I threw a coin in over our shoulders. It is gorgeous and the architecture is just unbelievable!!!

Also, at the Palatino, we saw a heap of archaeologists working and I had to take some pictures of them for Maddy :P The whole place is bursting with opportunity for archaeologists and I can see so many areas that could be dug up more.

Dad is very disappointed as he hasn’t had many opportunities to practise his Italian as most people will speak at least a small amount of English. Although today he tried to order a double shot long black and just ended up with 2 long blacks! :P

Tomorrow we are going to go to the Vatican City and have a look at the Basilica. It should be quite interesting. We have already visited a couple of quite spectacular Basilicas but I have a feeling this will be on a whole new level.

This place is amazing as well as a tad crazy and there is a lot I haven’t put in this but I will write again soon and hopefully we will visit an internet cafe soon so I can post this/do more blogging/Facebook/Skype/check emails/check the footy scores!!

That is all,

Arrivederci!!

Emma xxxxxx

PS Hope things are good back in Aus J

(I wrote this on Wednesday)

I Am in Nowhere Land

Yes, I am technically standing in International territory even though we are stopped over in Dubai. It’s the same as when we landed in Singapore. I have been to Singapore (about 12 hours ago now) but because I didn’t pass through customs, technically I’ve never been there!

I’m writing this in word because the computer doesn’t want to connect to the internet but I will upload this and some various photos (of our activities at the airports :P) when we get internet access-hopefully in Rome!

Anyway, the flights (2 down, 1 to go!) have been really long and boring and it is virtually impossible to get to sleep. It’s hard because you can’t sleep on your side because they like you to be buckled up most of the time so you have to try to sleep on your back with your seat tipped back as far as it will go (it’s really not that far) It must be so much better out of cattle class!!! Anyway, so far I’ve managed to watch Charlie St. Cloud, Little Fockers, The Social Network and just about all of the episodes they have of Friends. I was also listening to Bruno Mars last night (which eventually put me to sleep for an hour or so!!)

Mum and I found these foot massager machines at Singapore airport. They were free so we thought we would give them a try. It was the weirdest thing, sitting there in these funny foot massage machines at the airport at midnight (their time. It was around 1 or 2 in the morning Melbourne time!!!)

Next stop is Rome and by now, everyone just wants to get there (also I think dad is looking forward to testing out his Italian skills that he has been bugging everyone with for the past several months.) Joel is really, really tired, which is kinda ironic because he was the one saying he would watch heaps of movies and play lots of games but now he has just literally crash bombed. He’s not in a very good mood and it’s not taking much to set him off. Also he’s off playing his IPod and just being the good ol’ Mr Social we all know him as :P Ben is also being a mega pain. He’s tired but apart from maybe dad (who kept dropping off every 10 minutes or so if no one was talking to him), he slept the best. Mind you, Ben is very good at being a pain all the time.

Well that is the main news for now. Not that there has been much interesting to report. Things will get a whole lot more interesting when we finally get there! Right now I just can’t wait to get a proper night’s sleep!!!

Love Kiss and Hugs from Across in Dubai!!!!!

Emma xxxxxx

(I wrote this on Monday)

Not Long Left Now!

Two sleeps, two games, one bag to pack. No school, no training, 49 hours.
That's what's left.

How am I feeling???
Excited, nervous and anticipation.

Feeling Around the Home???
Mums stressing out a little less now as she can't wait to get on the plane. Ben, wouldn't know much is different. Ditto Joel. Dad, excitement. Dads not really nervous though.

Mum keeps giving me crash courses on things like:

• don't accept anything someone offers to you, they will want money and hassle you. you do not want that.
• Don't keep things in your pockets, apparently kids surround you with cardboard and while you are distracted, pickpocket you.
• make sure you pack for cold weather. shorts are not appropriate.

I have heard all this from mum several times. Also, once from dad. I get the picture.

I'm going to miss my friends loads!!

Ash wouldn't stop hugging me today and all my friends have been wonderfully supportive and happy for me despite their jealousy (and me reminding Shaanine about the sleeps left all the time). These guys are amazing and I love you Facebook & Skype :) The key to keeping up with friends.

It's amazing to think that in 3 days I will be in Rome!!!!!

The magnifico city of Rome!!!!!

It's just a waiting game now. Sure their are things to keep me busy. Netball, packing, sleeping, maybe a bit of homework, facebook and I'm going bowling tonight but just knowing that in 49 hours I will be taking off, leaving melbourne for seven weeks. It will be just the second time I've ever been overseas. I know lots of people who are going overseas for the holidays but I'm the one going the longest.

addio per ora. Vi amo tutti :)

La la la la.

Ciao,

Emma xxxxxxx

PS Go to google translate to find out what i just said ;)

Only 5 Sleeps Left!!!

Sorting out homework, going to school, packing (not really, just mums been nagging me to :P) and netball. It's a lot to fit into a week but after that its about to heat up.

So there's 5 nights to go.
Heres what everyone is feeling at the moment:
Mum: Excited, little bit of nerves but mostly excitement. She just wants to get there!
Dad: Looking forward to it but he's got lots to do. Also trying to become our resident italiano expertio. :P (C'e qualcuno che parla inglese????)
Ben: Excited, and he's going to see those little funny hat persons!!!! (Don't ask. I've got no idea what he's on about!)
Joel: He's looking forward to seeing the mona lisa. He is also looking forward to getting away from school and watching tons of movies/TV shows on the way over there. (He will get bored. He says he won't but i know he will)
Me: Excited!!! Looking forward to everything :) Also I like airports (yes I know, weird and random) so I'm looking forward to the Airports....

The culture is probably one of the things that is most exciting me. Just seeing the way the italians live, the french lifestyle, the english way of life and the everyday dutch. I'm interested to see if it's like we think it is. I mean, some people think Aussies are Kangaroo riding, slang using and have "snags" on the "barbie" every night for diner. But we all now that is not the case. Emus are faster, slang is cool but a bit over the top and its too cold anytime other than summer to have a "Barbie"
It will also be weird with the opposite seasons. We leave here in Autumn and arrive their in Spring.

There will be so many different and exciting things. I'm getting slightly impatient now. I'm kind of like a little kid waiting for christmas:
There's 5 sleeps left..... not that I'm counting or anything
Emma xxxxx
PS In a week I will be in Rome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7 Days and Counting!

So it's 7 days until we leave and I reckon i can predict what all my family will be doing at this time in a week. Mum will be trying to get ready and completely flipping out (it won't be until we are actually on the plane until she starts to calm down). Joel will be off in a corner reading his book or playing on his ipod. Ben will be playing with a toy, annoying someone or just generally getting in everyones way. Dad will be trying to finish the packing, calm mum down and calm himself down all at the same time. Me, well that's the hardest I reckon. I'm really excited and quite nervous at the same time. I think it's likely that I'll be doing some last minute homework or just trying to chill out. Maybe I'll be outside, shooting some last minute goals (I know I'm going to have to work hard on my shooting technique when we get back). Whatever I'm doing I think I'll have a funny feeling in my stomach, a mixture of excitement and nerves. At the moment I'm not really feel that. Mum has been stressing out for the last month but really all I want to do is jump on that plane with some clothes and a toothbrush in my bag and have an adventure.


I'm really looking forward to all the parts of the trip. We're flying in to rome and the ancient romans had a culture that I admire. They made so many advancements in technology that we really have them to thank for the way we live now.
Next we go up to Florence and Venice. To of the most beautiful cities in Italy. Especially Venice where you can get around via boats!!
After that we go up into Paris. I'm looking forward to the chance to test out my french skills, see the beautiful art and buildings and go to EuroDisney :).
Next is a train under the sea to England and the city of London. I'm looking forward to seeing some plays/musicals and visiting some iconic locations. We are also heading up to Cambridge Shire and Birmingham to stay with relatives and dads work colleges. When we are staying with mums relatives, the royal wedding will be happening in London and we have been invited to a street party to celebrate the wedding. It will be very interesting to see the reaction and the excitement of the english people.
The last leg of our Europe tour (we do have a night in Dubai on the way back) is the Netherlands. We will taking a boat from London to Amsterdam and then participating in a 2 week bike research tour of the Netherlands (hopefully this will mean I'm reasonably fit for netball when I get back). This tour will be an entirely new experience for me as we will be on bikes for 2 weeks and I've only ever done rides around Melbourne (and sometimes on the peninsula or up near Wangaratta). I'm looking forward to the different Dutch culture and just generally the experience of being there!


Well, we shall know what is in store for us soon enough.
I will write again soon :)
Emma xxxx