Edinburgh, Scotland

(me pointing at the mountain we did climb - on the left side, ride is Author Seat)


(the world largest Whiskey collection)


(from Edinburgh Castle)




SORRY that im slacking again in the Blog department, but Ive starting writing in my journal again and keeping up two tabs on my adventures is getting a bit tedious BUT I still enjoy sharing so bare with me!

RITA AND I WERE REUNITED AGAIN...
i know were together all the time but this is the first time since March that we have travelled together and it was oh so fun of course!

So I started my weekend off well because Sara and I agreed to switch dates to work so I had Friday off and now work this Saturday because they are having a dinner party and need help with the girls: so I get to do swimming lessons with Isabella Saturday!!! Thus Friday I got to sleep in which was NEEDED seeing that I us nannies went out on Thursday of course and had a blast of course! Ive been thinking a lot lately about the fact that in less than two months Im going to leave them forever, which is sad. Its going to be reality really soon because Kylie is going home for a month holiday on the 27th and we will just miss eachother before I leave - so this Thrusday shes having a get together at her house! Sorry I got a little off track there, anywhere Friday I had to work at the school though so I was up for that at 12, and Livy has asked to volunteer on her school trip this afternoon after working lunch duty, so that will be interesting haha but Im a sucker and said yes lol so we are going to the marsh for enviroment week.

We got to Edinburgh and found out hostel and went to a local bar that was across the street. Upon arrival we met a Courtney from Vancover who was backpacking alone and seemed to be missing home and lonely so we invited her out and went for a few drinks, and then off to bed for our busy weekend! Saturday we woke up and walked to the Royal Mile the main street in Edinburgh. From there we headed to Edinburgh Castle which had amazing views and then went to walk the Grassmarket and the Royal Mile. We stopped at a really cool pub that gave us a backpackers discount which is always welcome! After a great afternoon we went home for a small nap and to get ready for our night out. Saturday night was my favourite part (usually is) we had a great dinner and went our way on our own pub crawl. Went to a pub with live scotish folk music which was my favourite and a dance bar called Frankestein that had a very cool venue with a LIVE monster (it was ritas fav) and then stopped at a few other pubs before calling it a night. Sleeping in a hostel with 6 other girls can be interesting and you get so characters... Rita and I laughed because at like 6am a girl feel off her top bunk and her friend didnt even get up to help her!
PS. we also went to a Whiskey Tour on Saturday and saw the worlds largest Whiskey collect that had 3400 bottles collected over 35 years!

Sunday we climbs a large mountain beside Aurther Seat a volcano that is 350 million years old - this also gave us an amazing view! Then we just walked the Royal Mile again and got a nice lunch with a view of the Castle! We were so tired on this trip, for an unknown reason but it was great anyways. I caught up with my sleep last night, I went to bed for a quick nap after work at 7:30 and didnt get up until this morning!!! IT WAS THE BEST!

I just got a msg from my hairdresser Trisha who is visiting with friends and we might get together Friday! Then I babysit saturday and Rita and I will do stuff to fill in the brakes. Im starting to really stress out about getting life ready to leave here but also get ready life to start there!!!

AHHH August 6th is coming so soon!
Oh, PS i booked my flight home August 6th!
Next monday is my ONE MONTH MARK for work!!! OMG CRAZY
(sorry about the lack of posts again... i know there few and fair between but im getting supper preoccupied these days!)

it doesnt mean I DONT LOVE YOU ALL!

karma

(waterfall in Lautenbrunnen I went behind)

(the mountains as the sunset on an evening walk)

(high in the mountains)

(me and my moped!)

(paragliding)

First I shall start with a few pics from Switzerland, and finish up that aspect of this entry before I get into the subject that is KARMA!

Friday and Saturday we def. more reserved that my first two days in Switzerland, they were my me days which were nice but ive realized althought i want to be an independant person and that was one of the reasons for taking this year for me - independant doesnt mean alone and thus i love socialization! But none the less it was nice to just relax, this was the first trip ive been on I think other than maybe Venice where I felt like I was on vacation because it wasnt rushed and it was just calm. So Friday I went walked half way and trained half way back to Lautenbrunnen and found a few nice spots and just wrote letter, made bracelets (I found a cute bead shop and returned back to my 16 year old self making hemp!). I also went to another waterfall that you could walk up and stand behind kind of which was really cool... a freaking tiring hike seeing that I had just walked for a long time but it was worth it. I was exhuasted because my roommates were up making so much noise at like 6am but who can complain when sharing a 6 man room! That night I just stayed in and hung out with some people who were staying at our hostel. Saturday was along the same lines I exploded central Interlaken some more and then went back to the hostel and chatted with a nice Kiwi who was doing his own paragliding on this trip. Got back home for like 11:30 Saturday... fantastic trip!!!

Sunday I slept in and reorganized my life but then it was beautiful out so Rita and I met up in Greenwich for a picnic in the park. This is where the Karma kicked in, on the walk to the tube station lets get an image in your heads first: I was wearing white linen pants and a dark blue tshirt and then BAM BAM BAM a bird SHIT ON ME! After Ive had hundreds of laughs at Rita and Cassie it happened to me, when I was walking ALONE. I had to go into a local coffee short and use there napkins and wetwipes and get it off... then I was shit stained all day! (note: if your laughing right now beware because the karma is coming for you!)

Also I never can remember what Ive written about or not: BUT I gave my notice for leaving... my last day is July 22nd, and I'll be home AUGUST 6TH (the flight isnt booked but ill make it offical this week when I book it!)

CAN YOU BELIVE ITS JUNE GEEZ I CANT!

Enjoy hope its nice there, today is the hottest day of the year to date!
xx

Jungfraubahnen Region, Switzerland

Hey EVERYONE!

Its me and its the first time ive written a blog from a country other than England; how impressed are you. I figured since Ive keep myself VERY busy with this trip I should write about it in two installments hahaha - thus you have installment #1!

Ive been here for 2 full days and they have been jam packed... and suprisingly even though this is my first lone trip today has been the first day where ive actually been ALONE. I arrived here late late Tuesday night and after sending some quick emails to let everyone know i survived I went straight to bed. However the next morning at breakfast is where I met Lisa; and austrialian who I spent the most of wednesday and thrusday adventuring with. Wednesday we headed to Lauterbrunnen a town with over 70 natural waterfalls - the home of Trummelbach Falls, a waterfall where the 3 largest mountains water runs threw. We were able to climb to nearly the top of the waterfall and see it running threw the entire mountain. It was beautiful, however sadly enough on the 22nd of May a 12 year old boy went missing because he leant over the bridge and fell in! (a little piece of information we learnt AFTER we had gone) From there we roamed around the town by foot and ended up at Stechelberg: this is the spot where the worlds highest running ariel cable car begins at 922m and it runs through 4 other stops ended at Schilthorn at 2971m high (the spot where 007 was filmed back in the day)... so we got tickets and made our stops at Gimmelwald (1409m), Murren (1634m) and Birg (doesnt say) and ended at the top to have a nice lunch in a revolving resturant where you get a full view of the ice capt mountains. It was amazing you actually pass over the clouds and are standing amongst them! DID I MENTIONS IM LOVING THIS TRIP - we headed back down to Lauterbrunnen to catch a train to Wengen (1274m) a traffic free town (except for the tourist resorts cars) - we had a nice dinner there in pure peace. All of these town are so remote and peaceful with such gorgous views its very hard to explain and even the picture cant do it justice (however i will post picture when i return to England tomorrow). On our way home by train we met two more Aussies: Chris and Matt who had been living in Lautenbrunnen for a week and were just doing some hiking, they were heading into Interlaken for drinks and we joined them for a fun night out.

Thursday I met Lisa early in the morning again at breakfast, she was suppost to be heading to Paris Thrusday but had her flight delayed to today so we could do some more sight seeing. We headed over to Fun Rentals and rented Mopeds - it was sweet for 3.5hrs it only cost us 40 CHF almost equal to Canadian dollars and that included our insurance! It was a great but freaking scary experiences, because we had huge trucks passing us on our mopeds that would only go max. 55, up and up and up and round bends to get us to Grindelwald (1034m) - a tourist town close by. It took us about 30mins to get there passing by cows, rivers and beautiful green mountains that disappear into the clouds and come out over top covered in snow! We travelled high pass the tourist part of town and found a nice spot to part the scooters and found a path that led us to a beautiful waterfall, and we just sat there and took in the view, and decided to head home. Once back in Interlaken we decided to cease the moment and go paragliding! I was going to spend that money to go to Jungfaujoch the "Top of Europe"; its the highest point the rail system goes in Europe but its about 1000m higher than Schilthorn and I wanted to do something completely difference since I was very satisfied with Schilthorn - and im sooooo glad I did! My instructor was named Robi and he has been flying for 17 years... he was very friendly. We had to run attached to him off a cliff and althought the cliff came to a drastic slop down we had to keep running until he told me to stop, that was the scarest part and once that was over the view was amazing! Overlooking towns, and lakes and passing over mountains - the ride was about 15 - 20mins long and he even let me fly it once we were clear of the mountains of course. I got to do 360's and steer it, I was able to bring my camera and while I took picture of the view below us he took pictures with a special camera of us (which I will also put up). And then before we were going to land he took control again and did all sort of crazy tricks with it to make us spin really fast... and go basically upside down for a bit, SOOOOO WORTH IT!

Now its 11am on Thrusday and I have spent my morning doing some sovenior shopping and getting medicine because my allergies have NEVER been this bad... I had to buy eye drops and tablets, after having so many nice people in my hostel give me there medicine last night. Can I just say that his trip has renewed my faith in people: I was nervous to be alone travelling but there are so many difference and cool people who are doing the same thing alone or with someone and everyone has there own story. Last night I just hung out on the deck of our hostel and was joined quickly by 8 others from all over the world and as we sat watching the sunset in the mountain we just enjoyed each others company sharing our individual stories.

Anyways, Im out might head back to Lauterbrunnen because its a beautiful spot to just hang out and spend some quaility me time before I have to say goodbye tomorrow.

Im safe and having a blast!
Love you ALL!
xx

(here is a map: copy and paste it in a new window if you want an idea of where ive been!)

http://www.interlaken.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/bilder_cams_karten/ortsplaene/pano_jr_so-800.jpg

Meet the Girls 2

I know that I did a nice overview of my girls back a few months ago, but because they are children and are so influence by a small bubble that is their world, and because at their age there brains grow at a rapid pace I just thought id take this night in to give an update on who they are developing into while im here with them.

Isabella Jack
Although before Isabella had many different nicknames she has now become a one named woman since I returned from my trip with Cassie, and will only be referred to as Isabella Jack in full form and if you slip up and refer to her as Bell or Bella she will be most dignant and tell you "IM ISABELLA JACK!". She is still as happy and bright as ever but she is also still very expressive of her emotions and will tell you at any moment and you are not her friend because she mad or to leave me alone. Every day before I leave for my 2nd job at the school I will tell her I love her and when I pick her up from nursary I will say I missed you and it is the best feeling when she response to either comment with an "i love you" or an "i missed you too"! I have recently taught her how to squish her face and when she does this she says SQUISHY FACE... and we are now mastering the skill of stretchy face as well. She is a fashion icon for a 3 yr old, she will not hesitate to tell me if she doesnt like something I am wearing but equally she will compliment my wardrobe or hair. With this fashion sense she will not let you dress her in the morning and will insist that she chooses her outfits. We spend our time together playing birthdays with puzzles we have just made and cutting the cake ie., breaking the puzzle pieces, playing hair dresser or she makes me tea with her little tea set that used to belong to Olivia. I was shocked the other day by how good she is with math skills, she can put a puzzle together better than Olivia, and can count and identify shapes already. Isabella is my friend, and we can have nice conversation over breakfast but also have a blast being silly together. Her favourite game right now is hide and seek and she doesnt grasp that you need to be hiding to say BOO.

Olivia Jack
Olivia and I's relationship is an uphill battle with nice bumps along the way to rest and enjoy the view (if that makes sense at all). Livy and I have the same taste in boys, and we have a common guy who we refer to as our boyfriend - he is a teacher at her school/the school i work at. Olivia for being suck a serious little girl have a sense of humor that is developing very nicely, she doenst kid around often but when she does her comment actually make me laugh. Olivia has found comfort in sleeping on the bottom bunk with her sister lately, and will not go to bed without Charle; her stuff animal dog. Olivias best friend is Chivas the dog, and I truely believe that she has more fun with him that when she is socializing with other children. I was so proud of her this week when she finally won the trophey from her football team, Mia had won it 3 times and she as devisated last week and this week she tried her hardest and won (the moment reminded me of when Lucy scores a goal at the end of I am Sam: I was Sam). Olivia is a very clever girl and has gotten into a priate school next year, and with those brains she is very good at manipulating adults on thier weaknesses, a quality i see daily between her and her parents - but she probably does it to me without even realizing it as well. I love her hard but at time I can dislike her just as much - Olivia Jack is one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced in life.

I know I dont write often about my girls, probably because so much of my life involves them I try to minimize it when possible, however they are a huge part of my life and thus I like sharing what I go threw daily with you all!

xx

happy anniversary daniel

This was the first weekend in 3 weeks that I didnt have to babysit and it was a really nice change to have the ENTIRE weekend to myself! Althought I didnt end up going out friday night is it still nice to have that freedom to choice. My weekend actually started Thursday (kinda); it was the first thrusday since Cassie has been here than I went out for nanny night! Matilda, Kylie and Ula and myself meet up in Stratford and went to an open mic night... it was SO nice to get out with those girls again, we had a great time. Didn't end up leaving till about 12:30 - lucky enough we JUST caught the last tube! I didnt get in till 1:30 though and having to get up at 7:00 was not pretty sight to say the least!

My thrusday night escapades is probably another reason I stayed in Friday night, but it was nice got to have a date night with Daniel and a nice chat with Ashley! Rita and I were up Saturday morning early to catch a train to Windsor to check out the castle. Windsor Castle is the unoffical home of the Queen, so I really enjoyed seeing this castle inparticularly because it was really someone home, where as all the others were lived in hundreds of years ago - this one was current. Rita and I have been the Windsor before with Silv but not to the castle, but it is a very nice town - so we also walked around again. We ended up going for lunch/dinner to 'Thai Square', it was my first Thai expereinces and I actually LOVED IT - I got pai thai and it was amazing. I love how i have widened my palate since being here, it has encouraged me upon my return to try new places in KDUB! Then Saturday we headed home to get ready for Sonjas birthday party, we went out to Zoo Bar OF COURSE! The DJ is always playing the best top 40 and classic cheese music that is always amazing... there was actually one 2 songs where I didnt really get into the music and we were there for over 3 hrs of straight dancing! It was also sweet because we didnt have to pay cover. Funny story though (dont I always have them!); Rita and I had gone to the toliet and there was a lesbian (i could tell because she had a shaved head) in there and I had noticed earlier that I loved her dress, so I told her in the bathroom, and thought nothing of it - only to find out later that she approved Rita and said "Tell your friend that I think shes very hot", Rita was having nothing of it, because everyone knows IM HERS and she said with attitude "I KNOW!" haha - Daniel you can be please that the only attention I recieved was from the same sex!



Sunday was Kylies Pink Ladies Cocktail Party!
Rita and I headed over to Kylies house at 1:00; it was the first time I have seen her place and its soo nice, and cute. Rita, Ula and her roomie Magda and Kylie had a fabulous day wearing pink, drinking an assortment of pink cocktails and being girls! Martin, Kylies live-in boyfriend was the best, he had gone out earlier that morning and bought Kylie pink flowers, and he served us cocktail and snacks all afternoon! He honestly never let a girls drink go down - BOY TAKE HINTS, and girls dont settle THOSE BOYS REALLY DO EXIST! So we stayed and got drunk from 1 - 6pm, drinking on a Sunday afternoon is my NEW FAVOURITE time to drink - its a great way of spending a relaxing sunday afternoon. Except, can I just take a moment to express how on occation I can not stand Europeans - I didnt realise this until I moved here but they are so blunt and pesimistic its actually offensive. In a discussion about weight and Poland (Ula and Madga are Polish) and how too skinny is sexy there and we were dicussing average and I was referred to as average sized by non-europeans Ula straight up called me a FAT PIG - and was so serious! This is why girls have complexes about weight, WOMAN ARE SUPPOST TO HAVE CURVES, dont forget it!

(not the nices picture; but it has all of us in it!)


I can not believe that next tuesday Im heading to Switzerland!
Rita and I booked our Greece trip, and Im buying my Nice tickets today!

With the new plans Im coming home a day early; so I get a day between the wedding and arriving home!
YIPPY

Have a great VICTORIA DAY!

PS. Quick Boyfriend Shoot OUT
today is daniel and my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
i love you more than even, and i cant wait for whats to come!

Kyle Smith the 'Acrostic'

All that I LOVE and MISS about my BIRTHDAY BOY... enjoy!

he still loves me after almost Killing him on at least two different occasions

You go above and beyond devicing eleborate plans of attack just to get revenge and to get any chance you can to violate my body

informs me of all the dirty Lingo that the boys use, and you are not afraid of using discribive words

Eiffel Tower.

will never let a Simpson joke pass without being called out

even when i Mistake his birthday for last tuesday, i know he wont judge!

I can count on a solid ALLY OUP comment in all situations

created my Title as the 'group girlfriend'

Happy Birthday your an amazing guy and friend, I LOVE YOU KYLE!

i love my mom... and daniel too!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
xx. you're the best mother any girl could ask for, love you the MOST, next year its me and you all day long .xx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE
xx. you're the best boyfriend a girl could ask for, sorry I couldnt spend this day with you - thank you for all your support, only eighty something more days .xx

NOW FOR THE REST OF YOU!
How was your weekend... mine was nice, lord how I love my weekends! Friday I got out of the house at 8:00 and met up with Rita in the Docklands to see "I Love You, Man". If you havent seen it, I would def. recommend it... HILARIOUS! For those of you who have seen it bahahaha isnt it the best... TOTS M' GOATS - probably the best line EVER! Anyways then we went for drinks and had a nice sleep over, i send all my free nights on weekends sleeping over at Ritas and Im forever greatful that she is her to resuce me for my house for my weekly escape! Saturday we packed up and headed to Islington a new side of town Matilda suggested us to see, we spend the day walking up and down the streets and side markets then went a bought a few things for a cute picnic in the park. It was very nice, hahaha and then... (sorry Rita I had too) Rita got SHIT ON... like HUGE SHIT hahaha it was the funniest ever, I almost peed! She was even wearing a white coat hahaha she freaked out and we spend a good 10mins cleaning piegon shit off her coat and then another bird swooped down and she ran out of the park! I babysat Saturday night of course, I spend my time alone making a new necklace... which Im so proud of because I got the idea from a market in Brick Lane but it was like 18 Pounds and I found a charm for 1 pound and a chain for 1.5 and decided to make my own! I LOVE CRAFTS... its cool once its completely finished I shall take a picture and post it! Sunday because the freaking tubes and DRL are always closed we just met up in Stratford for dinner and drinks.

All and all I love my weekends!

This week I also booked my Switzerland trip! Im a tiny bit nervous because its the first trip im going alone on, but Im equally excited. Im only nervous of little things like getting there ok but Ive done enough trips it should be fine. Im going to a smaller sized town called Interlaken, so Im heading there tuesday the 26th till the saturday - so in like two weeks.. crazy how time is flying! We also booked our Scotland trip for June 12th weekend (dont know if im posted that yet)! I also think that if all goes as planned... I may be adding a new place to my list: Nice, France. But we will have to see how that pans out.

Life is getting back on track, Im no longer sick (really) and Im constantly reminding myself that other people can not effect my happiness unless I let them!

Have a fab. week everyone!
Hopefully I can write again before the weekend!

LOVE LOVE LOVE
xx