Penguins Go Viral

Penguins make me very happy, and giggly, apparently. Travelling to Antarctica to witness them at home was an amazing experience. I took loads of video of these amazing creatures to keep the memories fresh in my mind. I also thought I would share some of them with my family and friends. I've managed to upload one video onto YouTube, as that's all I've found the time to post so far. Apparently, one was enough. My Penguin Fun in Antarctica video has gone viral, 36000 views this morning. Those views are bringing some attention. I've just signed a contract with a UK based management company to help me license my video and see it's potential out in the big bad world. It's beyond crazy to think people out there are loving the antics of these Gentoo penguins, possibly jumping for their lives, as much as I did at the time, and still do every time I watch the video. So, before you have to pay me to view this, click on the link below to witness the magic of Antarctica!
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Buenos Aires

This poor city had no hope of wooing me after the charms Antarctica poured on, but I gave it a chance I promise!

Our final night on board the Clipper Adventurer ended at 330am with the lights of Ushuaia in view. The next day began at 630am, with a 530am wake up call from one of the crew members (he doesn't remember making it). Needless to say, I was knackered and depressed. We killed a few hours in the Ushuaia posting my new parka and winter gear home to Canada. (I'm just waiting to see if I beat it home!) The airport had a bit of a going away party air about it as the place was packed with the passengers from our boat. We all crashed once in the air and the 3.5 hour flight is a bit of a blur. Arriving in Buenos Aires meant the final goodbyes and it was all a bit too much. Once I arrived at my hostel, I hit the shower and bed.

My first day in the city was spent attempting to change my room situation. I had the top bunk in a tiny room with 3 stinky, snoring boys. I would have managed it, but the voyage across the Drake Passage had left me rocking and nearly falling out of bed twice made it impossible to survive the top bunk! Once that was sorted, I hit the pavement to see what the city had to offer. The first thing to hit me was the heat. After the cold of Antarctica, the 30 plus degree heat was overwhelming. I walked and walked and in one day, felt I had seen all the sights the city had to offer. It was a little disappointing. I enjoyed seeing Eva Peron's Pink Palace, the seat of government actually, where she made her big speech to the people. However, even that was smaller then I anticipated. I was very happy to be back in bed and looking forward to meeting up with 3 of my friends from the Clipper the next day.

Buenos Aires perked up for me when I met up with Tanya, her mum Olena and Olena's friend Pam. The Aussies and I spent the entire day together, checking out where Evita is buried, enjoying a market, an al fresco lunch and walking all over the city once again. We finished our day with a very expensive, but beyond amazing Argentinian steak! Once back in my bottom bunk bed I was exhausted, but happy.

Sunday meant a lie in as I waited for the trio to make their way over to the San Telmo barrio I was staying in. It was the scene of the biggest street market I have ever seen, at least 12 city blocks! The ladies abandoned Tanya and I after lunch for a nap. We walked the miles of stalls and did a little shopping, mostly indulging in Tanya's earring collection! It was a great day, but once again I had more goodbyes to deal with so I went back to the hostel a little down. 

Monday I visited a barrio called La Boca. Paint a building in bright colors, load it with tourist tat, and put tango dancers in front of it and they will come. I sat for an hour and watched touts take cash from silly tourists wanting a picture with someone who can dance. It was laughable, but enjoyable. The heat and a migraine kept me in the basement of the hostel for the afternoon. I was done and Buenos Aires had failed to capture my attention. I don't like to say that about many places I've visited, and it doesn't mean I'll give up on Argentina, but it just wasn't for me. No harm in seeing it though!

The Magic of Antarctica

It turns out there is at least one place on this planet where you can actually get away from it all. It turns out this place has stolen my heart and soul and I would do anything to head back there as soon as possible. It turns out there is magic at the bottom of the earth, and pure joy can be found with every moment spent in Antarctica. 

As I sit melting in the heat of a Buenos Aires summer night, I can't help but feel homesick. I'm used to that feeling, but not used to missing a place I've only spent 10 days of my life in. With no Internet, no telephone, and no television, one could be worried about being bored. However, it's amazing to actually be a part of the life taking place around you. There is nothing to miss with the loss of these luxuries of life when the thrills this continent has to offer are never ending. To think when asked why I would spend that kind of money to travel to a place covered in ice, all I could think to respond was "it's my last continent." Well it was, and I clearly saved the best for last.

There are so many reasons all of us should be traveling to Antarctica. First of all is the pure silence generated at night when all are asleep and only the stars are out. Second for me, was the fearlessness of the wildlife. They are as interested in us as we are in them. In fact the sight of about 100 people climbing ashore dressed in matching yellow parkas and waddling from the layers of clothing would cause any wildlife to pause, and most likely, give a little chuckle. Third are the pristine glaciers untouched by anything but the native wildlife. They go on for miles and miles and can be blinding in the bright sunshine. Fourth is the unadulterated fun to be had zipping around the Antarctic waters in tiny, but stable zodiacs, following the path of gigantic whales or tiny penguins. Fifth is the people you meet on the journey. It takes a special kind of adventurous person to actually take the step to head down south, deep south and explore an such a special area of the world. Making friends, and sharing the bond of visiting this place will keep a lot of us in contact for the rest of our lives. The question I now have is why wouldn't you go to Antarctica?

We had a pretty extraordinary trip. Our expedition crew were all thrilled with how well our journey went. They were quick to tell us not to brag too much as there's no way they would be able to reproduce it all again. We were blessed with amazing weather. We had sun for 5 out of the 6 days we completed our landings. We only missed one landing due to 60 knot winds that made anchoring our Clipper Adventurer icebreaker impossible. We had only a few flakes of snow one day. To be honest, it was almost a bit disappointing to miss out on the freak blizzards we were continually warned about! (I can only say that now that we're no longer there and we didn't miss out on anything!!) We had an amazing captain who has been navigating the Antarctic waters for 40 years and was willing to try anything to give us an incredible adventure. He even took us through the Lemaire Channel, continually breaking ice and dodging huge icebergs so we could enjoy sunset with hot chocolate and Bailey's on deck with an amazing view. We were also so fortunate to visit 4 research stations! We made it as far south as Vernadsky, the Ukrainian station where the men had been there 11 months with no resupplies because the ice was too bad. They were so happy to see us and the cigarettes we brought, we all got free vodka shots! We toured two Argentinian bases, one inside and one just the area around it. As well we made it to Port Lockory, the British base on the Peninsula. We were saddened to hear of a Brazilian base burning down and losing people in the South Shetland Islands, just after we had been there. It is a dangerous life those researchers live. We were lucky to have a few crew members who had lived at some of the stations and could fill us in on what life was really like living in Antarctica.

For me the epic part of the experience were our encounters with the wildlife. Our first landing in the South Shetland Islands took my  breath away and left tears rolling down my face. It was almost too much. We landed on the beach and there were penguins everywhere! And they were curious. One jumped right into the bag we were supposed to put our life jackets in. Some went about their business while others approached for closer looks. Our 3 metre rule to keep away from the wildlife only works if they can measure as well! I have a bruise on my knee from one overly friendly guy who wanted to know what I tasted like. We stumbled upon huge elephant seals on that island as well, only to be told they were babies at 2 years old and told how big they can really get!!  


From there our excursions continued to get more exciting in terms of wildlife. We had one amazing day that started at 6am as our zodiac discovered Ocras who seemed to be chasing Humpback whales. We watched from afar, but when the Humpback saw us he must have seen an opportunity for a diversion and came straight at us. As we barely recovered from him heading under our zodiac and resurfacing on the other side, giving us a wave and a splash, we turned and realized the orcas were following. We were very up close and personal as one came under the boat and took a good look at us leaning over the other side. The action was literally all around us. Taking photos at this point was impossible, but no one can take that experience away. We watched for hours and our marine biologist, Jimmy, explained that it was a pod of 80-90 Orcas in the area hunting penguins. They don't usually eat Humpback whales, but had come upon about 15 of them and so decided to play with them a little. The penguins in the area were panicing and I have video of loads of them trying to jump on an iceberg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GqVK_dvS80&context=C341872aADOEgsToPDskLX5ldTN5KvvosTfAZ-wGN7

In the afternoon of this amazing day, as we were still trying to recover from our whale experience, we found leopard seals. These creatures are amazing, and deadly, second only to the Orcas as hunters in Antarctica. We ran into a few playful ones during our excursions, and have some thrilling underwater video of them trying to chew on the zodiacs and figure out what we were up to. And the seals were everywhere! Fur seals, Weddel seals, Elephant seals, Crabeater seals. They were amazing to watch as well. Some were rather aggressive. Most of us were always quick to give them at least their 3 metres!  The bird life is also plentiful, even in the Drake Passage with no land for two days! The birds can be massive or teeny tiny little creatures. My favorite landings were always when a number of different animals were just chilling out together. 

I have literally thousands of photos. Maybe one day I'll get around to sharing them. I can honestly say though that there is no way any amount of photos or video will be able to capture even a fraction of what I've experience during my time in Antarctica. (There are even a a number of party photos that can't be shared ;) Believe me when I say it was pure magic. And I won't rest until I can get back there and experience it all again!

Here I Go Again, On My Own...

3 sleeps until my next I head off on my next great adventure. It turns out that blogging about all my travels is harder then I thought it would be. I guess I just want to experience it while it happens. Since my last post I said my goodbyes to Australia, experienced the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore, spent some quality time with friends in Vancouver, had an unforgettable 5 days in Las Vegas and returned to London for an emotional 3 week visit.

I do need to say a few words about Las Vegas. It was my first trip and it won't be my last. Up until now I have resisted the bombardment of advertising and recommendations from friends to head there. An adult's disneyland held very little interest for me. However, a friend asked me to join her for the National Finals Rodeo and having just lost my Dad, who was the biggest rodeo fan, I felt the desire to be there for him. I was not disappointed. Vegas was everything it promised to be. It was a major release for me. I was intoxicated for 5 days, and for someone who doesn't drink that much, it wasn't surprising that recovery took 2 full days once I returned to Canada! My friend had to return home after 3 days for a funeral so I had 2 on my own. I wasn't worried, nor did I need to be. People are so friendly in Vegas, but even more so when they discover you're on your own. I didn't have to buy myself a single drink for those 2 nights, nor was there a fear I'd sober up! The rodeo was brilliant and having cowboy eye candy everywhere you looked was an added bonus. I'm not sure I can go back to Vegas without the cowboys! I even got to attend the American Country Music Awards and see some of my favorite acts live.  It was bliss, pure and not so honest. I'm already looking forward to heading back and now completely understand why all my Canadian friends have been heading there regularly for years. I might skip the beer and shots at 430am in the airport on the way down though, or maybe not. I will definitely be wary of dancing with drunken cowboys after I lose one shoe. I wonder if my toe nail will have grown back by the time I rock up the strip this December?

So, that said, I've recovered and am ready to head out traveling again. A long two day journey will see me arrive in Ushuaia, Argentina, the end of the world, as it's considered. Then I will board an ice breaker for the epic journey across the Drake Passage, prescription anti nausea medication in hand, and onto my last continent, Antarctica. For most of my life I have had a dream of visiting the penguins at the bottom of the earth and very soon that will be a reality for me. I might very well be at the pinching myself stage of my life.  Obviously I would love to be blogging and emailing and facebooking while I'm there, but satellite Internet doesn't seem to be in my price range so I'm thinking the 10 days at sea will have to be summed up once I return to Argentina and find a little wifi somewhere.


After Disembarking from the ice breaker, I'll be off to Buenos Aires for a bit of steak and Tango. After a few days on my own, I'll head to Peru for a tour of that amazing country. Once I've experienced Machu Picchu and all Peru has to offer, I'll make my way to Ecuador and join a tour that will take me to the Galapagos Islands and another of my life long goals will be achieved. Then it'll be back to Canada to attempt to take it all in.


As one can imagine the logistics of these 6 weeks are a bit of a challenge. 2 days left to get organised and I still haven't figured out how the clothing required to survive the Antarctic cold, the heat of a Buenos Aires summer, the warmth of Peru and the humidity of the Islands will fit into my one little suitcase and weigh under 23kg! With each trip I do learn more about what I need to survive on the road, so I know it will happen by Friday morning. I just like to stress about everything before heading out. It's just my way.


My hope is that with this trip I will continue to learn a little more about myself as I see the world and cross so many experiences off my bucket list. Hopefully I'll even blog along the way!

Taking a Break

I knew I just had to get to Australia and then I would be able to unpack my bag, stretch my legs and relax for a period of time.  And that's exactly what I have spent the last two weeks doing.  Well, with a bit of excitement thrown in with my good friend's wedding and a 4 day trip to the middle of the Outback and the great Uluru!

Arriving in Perth was like coming home, which of course interests me as I was only here for 4 weeks in January, but I fell in love during that time and could easily see myself a resident.  Unfortunately for me, the Australian government does not feel the same way, nor have I found myself an Aussie boy who does either (yet)!! 

I hired myself a car, which I have driven very little while here, but it felt great to jump behind the wheel of a vehicle and self propel myself down the highway, even if I had to spend most of that ride (and a few more after) reminding myself which side of the road to drive on!  Living in London driving on the left and then having 5 weeks in Canada driving on the right before heading out on this adventure caused a number of 'oh my God' moments, swiftly recovered from without incident (so far). I was grateful to friends who lent me their Australian GPS map as I drove myself straight to another friend's house.  It was a beautiful day in Perth, crystal blue sky, not a cloud to be seen and above 20 degrees. It's just coming into spring here and had been raining and chilly, which it was quickly to become again, but happily not until after the most beautiful Aussie wedding I've ever seen!

Michelle Harris and Shane Neil became man and wife on September 10, 2011 and I was so fortunate to be one of the very select few they chose to include in their wonderful wedding weekend in Guildford at the Rose and Crown Hotel.  It was the most perfect day with everything going so smoothly, even my makeup as it ran down my face with my flood of tears during the ceremony. I couldn't help it. Michelle looked amazing, Shane was ogling her as she came down the aisle. And they are just so in love, it is something special to bare witness to and I feel very lucky to know them and be a part of their lives.

After the weekend, with the bride and groom safely off to their honeymoon in India, I set up home at my best friend from London, Alexandra and her husband Stuart's house in the far reaches of Northern Perth.  My bag literally exploded, and I have only just now got it under control.  It has been beyond brilliant to have a base and a room all to my own and a washing machine available whenever the endless loads of children's washing take a break!  I've had home made meals nightly, day trips to Perth Zoo, Hilary's Boat Harbour, Wanneroo Markets, extensive shopping malls and a lovely chance to reconnect with Alex's extended family, whom I met in January.  It is an amazing feeling to be in a place new and special, yet feel so at home. I've loved not having to run around and see the sights and get the photos and buy the postcards and souvenirs. It's given me so much more time just to be with my friend, and given by my emotional breakdown night one of my time here, I probably really needed to reconnect with a friend.

However, I did manage to pull myself away from Perth for the opportunity to visit the great Ayers Rock, or Uluru, the name the aboriginals gave it.  I flew to Alice Springs, stayed in a friendly little hostel and was collected at 605am by my Intrepid 2 day tour.  The desert was something special. The days were getting close to 30 degrees already, but the nights were going down to 1 or 2 degrees. It was freezing!!  And camping in tents actually allows you to experience the temperature change properly as the tents are far to hot to enter in the day light and then you spend the night shaking with cold and probably a little with the fear of what kind of creatures are slithering and skittering around your tent in the dark! 

It was all worth even just that first glimpse of the beauty that sits high above the desert floor, just in the middle of nowhere with seemingly no friends (until you turn around and see the Olgas or the Other Rocks, as they are affectionately known, standing some 50kms or so away!).  Uluru is simply breathtaking. The completely flat walking path around her base is over 10kms long. My ankle was beyond happy when we only walked halfway around and drove around the other half! The trouble was not falling over, and breaking my other ankle, as I stared straight up into the blue sky in complete awe. Almost even better was watching the color changing show Uluru puts on at sunset. As the sun goes down behind the Olgas, it creates many different colors on the red rock, best enjoyed while eating nibbles and drinking champagne (or OJ in my case) all provided by Intrepid!  The next morning we enjoyed watching the sun rise from behind Uluru and create the color show on the Olgas.  We hiked into the Olgas. As they are free standing and many, you're able to climb into the crevices, whereas Uluru just stands there one large, impenetrable rock. My ankle gave out and I missed the vertical climbs at the end of the hike, but enjoyed being out in the desert in the beautiful national park, always keeping my eye out for those creepy crawlies I was alright seeing in the zoo behind glass!


After another night in Alice, I was back to Perth and have had a lovely week just relaxing and spending time with the friends I have in the city.  I love that I know people all over the world I can connect with on my travels, makes it all seem a little smaller and less frightening.  Tomorrow I start again, granted this time I only have two weeks until I'll be back in Lacombe, Alberta wondering where to go next, but still I have two more weeks so bring them on!!  And once again, thanks to Perth and those of you here who make it feel so much like home. Who knows, maybe one day it will be!!

One Month On

It amazes me to look back at what I've accomplished in a month:

- Returned to London as a visitor for the first time
- Stood in Red Square
- Traveled the Trans Siberian Railway
- Visited Mongolia
- Climbed the Great Wall of China
- Stood in Tian'anmen Square
- Hung out with the Terra Cotta Warriors
- Sailed across Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry in Hong Kong

Keeping a blog while in these countries has been impossible. Some places were too remote for the Internet, certain governments blocked access to my blogsite, and mostly I've kept myself too busy to do anything other than collapse at the end of each day!

My Trans Mongolian Express Tour with Intrepid was really good. I travel with 11 excellent people who managed to act like adults and get along for 3 weeks, and one girl was only 13!! Our Russian tour leader Bob ("Don't call me Boris" he announced to the first local guide we encountered!) did his job of getting us from St Petersburg to Beijing with loads of laughs and learning opportunities in between.

So as I was making new friends and learning to live without others in my life, I focused on the journey.

St Petersburg was beautiful. However I was very jet lagged and it rained the majority of my time there so I didn't give it the chance it deserved to impress me.

Suzdal was a little Russian town we stayed in near Moscow. We met Lena who served us breakfast and then dinner with A LOT of vodka. She had no English but a lot of energy and love. The many, many churches were nice, but Lena was the true gem of Suzdal.

Moscow wowed me, so much so I'll be going back.  We had a day and a half and made the most of the time we had. I walked a lot, took a boat trip, toured the Kremlin and St Basil's church in Red Square. I missed Lenin as he was closed while I was free. Will go back before they finally bury the poor guy!

The Trans Siberian Railway is an adventure to say the least. We were on board for 4 nights. The breaks in the journey came when the train stopped at platforms along the way for about 20mins each time, usually 3 times a day. We had cabins for 4 with no showers, 1 dirty toilet for 15 people and no air conditioning with temperatures in Siberia reaching 35 degrees!! The time went by with lots of chatting, reading, writing in journals, trying to steer clear of the carriage attendants who liked to yell at us in Russian, but mostly by drinking beer in the air conditioned dining car! I'm still not certain if I would recommend this journey even to those of you who were so jealous when I booked it! It is beyond tough.

Lake Baikal is gorgeous, and was a blessed two night break in our train journey. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse and enjoyed hot showers, food not made by adding hot water and space to explore. We had a boat trip on the lake and 2 idiots even went for a "swim" in the freezing waters! We had our second vodka night here as we taste tested all the different kinds the group had purchased! Bob was very against our drinking on the train as it's legal to drink alcohol but illegal to be drunk. Bob hates paperwork!

After our glorious break, we boarded the Trans Mongolian Railway for what we thought would be an easy journey of only two nights. It turns out this was the toughest part of the entire trip as the border crossing was epic. We were able to get off for 3 hours while the wheels were changed on the train but we were dumped in a tiny, dirty, disgusting little town to sit in the baking heat and wait. Once back on board the toilets were locked to begin the passport checking process. 2.5 hours to leave Russia as they searched the train and went through every passport. No air con, mid day heat baking us and not drinking to save us from needing the toilet made for a miserable experience. We couldn't even sleep as we had to be awake when the officials were on board and no one knew when that would be. 20 mins traveling through no mans land and then another 2.5 hours on the Mongolian side. When we were finally released from our jail like hell we fled onto the platform only to be attacked by the world's most ferocious mosquitoes, who had clearly been waiting for us! Our only escape was to jump back on the miserable train. Livvy, our 13 year old, had well over 50 bites all over her body!! The entire day was truly a horrendous experience.

We woke up the next day in Ulaanbaatar and soon the scars of the train journey faded as the amazing country took hold. I can't pinpoint what I like the most about Mongolia, but I was very happy there. UB is a fun city with lots to see and do. We weren't particularly adventurous but went to the International Intellectual Museum and met the founder who was a boy genius and was creating puzzles at 11. It was mostly just his collection of impossible puzzles and chess sets, and strange toys from around the world, but we had fun. Then we enjoyed the Sky Bar for cocktails and sights of the city. We toured a Ger community on the edge of the city and saw a cultural show with dancing and throat singing. The best part of Mongolia for me was our night at a Ger camp out in the national park. It was so beautiful and peaceful out there. And sleeping in the Ger was like camping!! Our third and final vodka night was here with Ghinngis (Mongolian) vodka, my favourite, yummy!!

The second part of our Trans Mongolian journey was approached with a lot of apprehension. No one was sure how we could go through another border crossing and survive. We rode on the train all day and waited for our late afternoon arrival at the Chinese border in almost total silence. When we got to the border the card games were brought out and we decided just to keep ourselves busy this time. A number of factors helped to make this experience almost pleasant. It was early evening so the temperature was almost cool, they changed the wheels on the train while we were still on it so we could watch and also while the Chinese had our passports so it didn't feel like so much time was wasted. We crossed into China after only 5 hours and happily slept the night away.

We arrived in Beijing in the afternoon and I was instantly taken with the city. It was complete mayhem, even on the short walk from the station to our hotel. It's a city that assaults the senses, continually. For the first 2 days I walked around smiling, enjoying how completely insane it all is. Then, it started to get to me. There are so many people, everywhere. It was beyond hot and the smog makes it almost impossible to breath. The entire place seemed to smell like toilets, mostly because people urinate everywhere, and babies don't wear nappies. They have splits in their trousers and when they go, it all just goes onto the ground where ever their parent is holding them.  Fortunately Beijing has so much to keep one busy that most of this can be forgotten.  Tian'anmen Square is huge. Chairman Mao is very waxy. The Forbidden City is beautiful. The Summer Palace is an oasis. The World Trade Center is confusing and full of extremely posh shops. The markets are lively and full of everything one could ever need or not need to purchase. There are also loads of expensive yummy restaurants, we treated ourselves to for surviving our trip!

The Great Wall of China is absolutely everything I have always dreamed it would be.  I stood there looking out over what felt like all of China in complete awe. It was beyond hot and what little climbing I actually did was exhausting, sweaty work. My ankle was happy with the portion we were lead to though. We had a cable car ride up to tower 14 and then a nice, mostly downhill walk to tower 6 with plenty of towers in between from which we could hide from the sun and enjoy the breeze. At tower 6 we discovered our way down was on a metal toboggan run.  It was so much fun, a few of us took a chair lift back up to come down again.  I had no idea the Great Wall had amusement rides!! It was a brilliant experience.

Saying goodbye to our tour group took a few days as some left right at the end of the tour, but most stayed on to explore Beijing, leaving daily. We continued to meet up during the day to explore together and at night to treat ourselves to fancy meals. One night we even had cocktails on the 80th floor of Beijing's tallest building! It was a nice way to finish our tour and see Beijing.  The day I left Beijing I flew to Xi'an on my own.

Xi'an was another busy, smog covered Chinese city. Someone at the hostel said "you see one Chinese city, you see them all." I had booked what turned out to be a miserable hostel and I was fairly fed up with the heat and humidity and so left most of Xi'an undiscovered, even though I'm sure it has a lot to offer. I did wander the markets of the Muslim quarter with a couple of people from the hostel, but mostly it was early nights for me. I was there for one thing and my one full day was spent visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors.  They were unspeakably amazing and worth everything I was putting up with to be there.  It will be amazing to go back in 20 years to see how much more they will have discovered.

After Xi'an came Hong Kong. I've been here on my own and I'm lonely. I just don't think I'm ready to be on my own yet. It's good to be aware of that I think. There will be a few more tours booked for me in the future. It's been great to have a nice, air conditioned hotel to myself for the first time in a month though!

Hong Kong is a vibrant city full of so many skyscrapers, it's easy to trip up on the sidewalks while looking up all the time! The views from the tip of the mountains and highest buildings (100th floor this time!) are stunning. I've treated myself to high tea at the colonial Peninsula Hotel and cocktails at the Intercontinental Hotel on the Harbour.  The heat and humidity have been the worst here, 91% for the past 2 days! However, I have pushed on to get the sights seen and the to do list crossed off. I've had so many recommendations from everyone and have happily done them all.  I can see why everyone is so taken with this city and I think if I had come at any other time of the year, it would be hard to get me to leave!

So here I am, one month in. I am overwhelmed looking back at everything that has been going on. I knew it'd be busy, but wow...  Here's to the next month and all that it has to bring!!

St Petersburg

48 hours in St Petersburg and it's already time to say goodbye. Extremely quick visit experienced mostly in the pouring rain while jet lagged! I found the city to be very beautiful. I do love places that like bright paint and statues everywhere. Even in the rain, the umbrellas were all bright and beautiful (the complete opposite of London). The afternoon I arrived I met my tour group of 12 and our leader Bob (Borris actually but "don't call me Boris" was announced last night so Bob it is!). We headed to a Georgian restaurant and spent the evening eating fried cheese and drinking neon non alcoholic drinks, it was good fun. Our one full day I headed first to the huge Hermitage Museum housed mostly in the Romanov's Winter Palace. It was unbelievable. The building itself was worth seeing on its own but the art and artefacts from around the world were stunning. Apparently it would take 9 years to view each piece for 1 minute. I didn't have that long so after a few hours I took my tired feet to the open top tour bus for a two hour rest. It was good to have an overview of the city and as many of you know, I like my open top tour buses!! I visted Our Saviour on Spilled Blood church, which was done completely in mosaic inside and out. Simply stunning. Then it was home to bed only to wake up at midnight for our boat tour of the city. In the summer the 22 bridges from the Baltic sea to the interior of Russia open from 1 until 4am to let cargo ships into the country and it is beautiful to see. This morning I enjoyed a self guided tour on foot testing my map reading skills and stumbling upon some beautiful places, such as a bright blue church I christened "Smurf Church". We are now gathering together as a group again to say our goodbyes to this fascinating place and board an overnight train to Vladimir. We're visiting a small place called Suzdal for a night and then we'll be in Moscow!! I'm not sure when I'll find wifi again so until then, keep safe everyone, especially those of you in London. It's been very hard to watch a bunch of stupid yobs tear apart my neighbourhood...