We need a montage

Before I came overseas I imagined my travels a little like a series of movie montages.

First montage: Arrive in London. Spin in a circle in Trafalgar Square feeling so proud and pleased to be on my own, look at paintings in art galleries with serious face, laugh with new backpacker friends in hostel, walk along busy street with map and beanie and smile, walk through shopping centre with many shopping bags swinging merrily at my side, laugh with new backpacker friends in London pub… etcetera.  

Second montage: Arrive in Dublin, laugh in pub with Ellie, Look at Oscar Wilde type things with serious face and understand what tour guide is talking about "hmmm yes that is my favourite poem also", Laugh in pub with hot Irish men and many new friends, Dance to live music, Walk through green hills with big camera around neck and beanie on head.

Montages beyond this: Leave Dublin and embark on next adventure. Spain perhaps. This montage is less clear. It does however involve more laughing in pubs, looking seriously at art and landmarks, sipping wine on the Amalfi Coast (where even is that?) wearing a sarong and a big hat, having an Italian man fall madly in love with me (reciprocated or not), meeting a gang of backpackers who say something along the lines of "we are going to Prague/Istanbul/Krakow and have an extra seat in our van, please come Maddy, we think you are excellent and we really want you to come!!", Eating the best pizza in Italy, seeing things that Grandmere saw in France… the montage is vague and brilliant.. 

Thoughts at 35 thousand feet.

"It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?" 

Thats the fat Irish businessman seated beside me. He is watching me pour myself a glass of wine. I don't even look at him and continue pouring. 

"Not on my side of the world."

On my side of the world its 9.10pm and it’s 23 degrees. It’s perfectly ok to have a glass of wine.

And besides, I’m on an aeroplane. Anything goes when you’re on an aeroplane (except jokes about terrorism. They are taken very seriously I’m told). 

It’s Australia day and I am flying from London to Dublin. One place to another, I want this to be my life for now. I don’t want to be still anymore. I enjoy the idea of living in London, but I don’t so much enjoy the idea of finding a home and job and staying still. If only the money would roll in on it’s own, I think I would be content just tripping from one place to another, indefinitely, until I find something else that I want to do more.

For the first time in a long time, love doesn’t appeal to me right now. Partnership or companionship, it all seems uninteresting. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely noticed the cute guy two rows behind me, wearing green fisherman pants and sleeping like an angel, it’s just, I don’t want to marry him and have his babies.

Maybe I really could find myself this year. Or if not this year, maybe next. Maybe this trip, this journey, is a step toward figuring out what my life will be. If not Cale, if not Sydney, if not unionism, or event management… What? Maybe I will finally find a way away from depression. Away from dissatisfaction, the nagging feeling of “what’s next”, “what should I be doing now”, “isn’t there more”…

Maybe this is my time.

Maybe it is a little too early for this. 

Winston and Westminster

I checked into my hostel yesterday, it is called Palmers Lodge. It is in what I'm told is a 'posh area' called Swiss Cottage. It's quite nice, it is a converted mansion - former home of Samuel Palmer of the Huntley and Palmers Biscuit Empire (they make Jaffa Cakes which are popular here). There are chandeliers in the common areas, and an huge old staircase leading up to my dorm with six beds, in which there is only me and one other girl. My roommate is from Hong Kong and her name is Minnie. She is sweet, and is here for four days over Chinese New Year. 

Last night I noticed a tall scruffy haired man at the bar. He was ordering the same meal as me. I decided he looked French, and is probably named Jean-Pierre, or Luc (even though I never heard him speak). This morning I sat down to eat my croissant with jam, my apple juice and my black coffee (they don't have soy milk anywhere here). I sat down to start eating, and noticed Jean-Pierre, about two tables away. He happened to have in front of him a croissant, jam, an apple juice and a black coffee. We raised our glasses to each other from afar. About fifteen minutes later I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth. In wanders Jean-Pierre, and begins brushing his teeth too. We both tried very hard not to laugh.

I was exhausted yesterday, and fell asleep by 8pm. I woke up a couple of times during the night, but overall my bed is quite comfortable and my doona is warm. At 6.30am I couldn't sleep any longer and decided to get up and start exploring again. It was raining today, but considering I am in London, and today was the first proper bit of rain so far, I think I am lucky.

The first place I went was to the Churchill War Cabinet Rooms. Unexpectedly, when I got off the tube at Westminster station, I was immediately standing right in front of Big Ben. "well there you go" I thought.. followed closely by "it's not that big really"...

Very pretty though

I looked up at not-so-big ben for a while, took a couple of photos, and then wandered around the corner to see the houses of parliament, Westminster Abbey and some other buildings which looked significant (it's hard to know here, everything is so pretty and old). I had to use Google Maps to find the War Rooms though, because I was totally lost and nobody would stop to answer my questions (people are more cranky in the rain, and also in this business area I think).

The Churchill War Cabinet Rooms were just incredible. I knew they would be, the recommendations I had heard and read had put my expectations at head height, and I wasn't disappointed. I spent about two and a half hours wandering the halls of the underground bunker, map rooms and shelter from where Winston Churchill and his staff spent much of their time during the Blitz in WWII.

Some rooms and areas have been left untouched since the end of the war in 1945, and some reconstructed to look the same as they did in wartime. I always find the addition of mannequins and soundscapes a bit strange, but I suppose it adds to the atmosphere. I listened to ever bit of the audio tour, and also explored the Churchill Museum, which details Churchill's life, shows footage of some of his speeches (just incredible) and also of his funeral. I got held up by a keen young museum volunteer who talked my ear off about Churchill's various hats, and was very excited to have my try to use a typewriter. The typewriter was not that thrilling, but it seemed to make the volunteer very happy to see me use it.  The hats were very stylish I must admit, Churchill was quite a stylish gentleman.

A gentleman and a scholar.

After admiring Winston Churchill, my feet were sore and I thought I would probably head back to my lodge. It was only 11.45am but I had been awake for nearly 7 hours and I was cold. On my way to the tube I wandered past Westminster Abbey, and couldn't resist paying the £16 to go in and look around. 

How could I not go in?

I wasn't allowed to take photos inside the Abbey. But let me assure you, it is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. Just stunning. The ceilings are so detailed and intricate, I could hardly believe that they were real. The tombs and shrines are ancient and so numerous, you would struggle to count them all. The names inscribed in these shrines are impressive. Not just Kings and Queens, Dukes and Duchesses. But names like William Shakespeare, John Keats, Martin Luther King Jr, Lewis Carroll, Isaac Newton, Oscar Wilde.. I could go on and on... It was wonderful. Even Charles Darwin is there. Figure that one out.

I stayed for about two hours at the Abbey. I lit a candle, but didn't say a prayer.

After this, I was completely exhausted, and ready for a nap (or a full body massage). So, in the rain, I made my way on the tube (which I am so amazing at navigating now) back to my lodge, and slept for three hours. I've now been awake for about two hours. It's 9pm and I'm about to heat up my microwave dinner and go back to bed with my book. I am getting sick I think. I am trying to ward it off with echinacea and vitamin C, but the cold wind in my ears is making me sniffly and sore.

I'm getting very excited about going to Dublin on Thursday, even though it is even colder there! It's quite easy to layer up in clothing, though I do need to get some good gloves. I can't wait to see my Ellie, and meet her new friends and her new lady. I have been looking at things I might like to do in Ireland/Dublin, but I am quite sure Ellie has a list as long as my arm to keep my going for at least a week!

I am missing people at home, but keeping up to date by Facebook stalking. I have sent a few postcards so let me know as you get them so I know :) Love to you all xxxxx

A warm 11 degrees

Yeah, I'm in this red phone box. cause that's what you do. 

Me and Soph in Trafalgar Square

Yesterday Sophie and I went on the tourist trail. We went on the tube to Trafalgar Square and admired the huge fountains and statues, googled what they were, and laughed at the children falling over themselves with joy. We then wandered through the National Gallery, looking at paintings we almost recognised and talked about how wonderful it would have been to be with Grandmere here because she would know. We tried to sweet talk our way into the Da Vinci exhibition but the curator was unimpressed that we were bed at 5am instead of lining up for a ticket (apparently that's how you get in).

After the gallery we walked to Buckingham Palace, saw some guards march up and down (they seemed far too young to be guarding anything much) and waved at the queen who didn't come outside to wave back. Rude I thought.

The queen is in there. You can tell by the flag being at full mast.

Pretty golden angel outside Buckingham Palace

Tourists

After this we went in search of an underground wine bar called Gordon's. We paid a homeless man £1 to show us where it was and escaped the cold street to the extremely hot dark little tunnel (a converted wine cellar-  you can't even stand up inside). It was very awesome. We shared a bottle of wine, talked about love, life and livestock for a couple of hours. It was easy to forget what time it was, and how cold it was out on the street. When we left the bar I thought (for the first time since I have been in London) mmm it's nice and cool out here...

London Hoods. 

I met up with Andy in the evening and we went to some bars, drank some lager (and some tequila), caught up on gossip and had a really nice time. We went to an underground house club in Shoreditch called Mimo and danced a lot. Andy dances like a legend and that made me laugh. At about 3am we danced out of the club and I stumbled into a taxi.

Now, if you know me well, you will know that I have a bit of an irrational hatred for taxi drivers, especially when I am drunk. This taxi was an 'agree on the price before you get in' type of taxi- which is lucky, because I had absolutely no idea where I was or where I was going. Andy gave the driver some directions and sent me on my way. But this stupid taxi man (curse them all) did not seem to be able to comprehend that I had been in London for two days, and had NO IDEA whether he should turn left or right, take the high street or the old junction, go through the toll road, turn around in a circle and do the hokey pokie.. He kept insisting I tell him which way to go. In the end I just pretended I couldn't hear him and stared out the window until I recognized the street I was on, told him to stop, and got out. It just so happened that I was right outside Sophie's apartment. Fuck I'm talented.

Today I stayed on the couch for many hours. I skyped with my beautiful Ellie, and I booked my flight to see her in Dublin. I am so excited to give her a big hug. I miss my friend. I arrive on Australia day which is nice, we can be Australian together! I also booked some accommodation in London for the next three nights at hostel which looks really nice, so I go there tomorrow until Dublin time.

I think I will spend the next few days exploring the city some more, there is so much here to see I don't know how I could ever get bored. I am thinking I will stay in Dublin a couple of weeks and then maybe come back and find some work in London. I might delay some of my traveling until it warms up a bit- I want to see Greece and Spain and Italy and France and Poland and oh i want to see everything!!

I am sitting in a bar at the moment, I just finished a delicious pumpkin risotto with roasted vegetables in it, an am having a beer (the size of my head- why are they so big?)

Early night tonight, because tomorrow I have more exploring to do!!

xxxxx

London, the first bit.

I didn't realise that jet lag was still screwing with me until I woke up at 3.15am like a child on Christmas morning, wide eyed and ready to jog to Big Ben...

Since I left Australia I have been having the most vivid dreams. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with jet lag, or whether it is my mind processing the journey that I am on. I have been dreaming a lot of people from my past. One night I was sitting at a long table with all of my ex boyfriends, ex girlfriends, ex lovers, ex crushes, flings, everyone who had meant something to me in a romantic or sexual way... I can't remember what was happening, just light conversation I think. This dream has to be significant though, doesn't it...?

Yesterday was my first real day in London. I wandered around Oxford Street, bought a really warm puffy jacket with a fur collar, a coffee and an umbrella. I probably looked a lot like a deer in headlights as i slowly meandered the streets saying "wow cool!" to myself for several hours. I caught the tube, found the Apple Store on Regent Street, went to a gallery called The Wallace Collection with some really old stuff in it (gave me decorating ideas), went to Selfridges, Marks + Spencer, Debenhams, Boots... It was all very exciting.

Red buses and rain, ahh London :) 

Apple Store, with Red buses to prove I am indeed in London. 

Marks + Spencer, and Black Cab. 

The awning above is Selfridges. If you look really close you will see a policeman giving the guy in the wheelchair a fine... for what, I don't know. 

Yes I think I will definitely have a boudoir like this one.
 I thought of mum a lot here, the chandeliers were just incredible.  

A lot of this furniture is older than white Australia. Which I think is cool.  and Pretty.
I thought of Grandmere here also, I wondered if she had stood and looked at the things I was looking at, she would have liked it I think. 

The girl on the swing. What a beautiful painting.
She deserves an entire blog to herself, and she may well get one. 

I struggled not to laugh when I heard little children speaking in their British accents. It just sounds so cute and funny, they sound like little Harry Potters.. or princesses. "Oh daddy I do hope we might have a.." oh I don't know what British children say, but they sound funny, trust me.
The sugar comes in lumps here, like little cubes, instead of in a bowl. I thought it was nifty, except what if you want less than a lump, do you have to saw it in half?

Last night my cousin Sophie and her friend Ness took me to a trendy new restaurant called MEATliquor - a burger place with American style burgers, buffalo wings, deep friend gherkins (omg yum), and wonderful cocktails. We had a nice time, stuffed our faces and enjoyed a couple of cocktails before getting the tube home.

MEATliquor.  They serve meat, and liquor. 

Also, I have decided that I look pretty good in winter. Which makes me happy.  Today my dear cousin and I are off to do some touristy things :)

Whee hee!! xxxx

Leaving Dubai

I decided to wake up early for my last day in Dubai. I had to be at the airport by 11.30, and still hadn't seen the Burj Khalifa. It felt wrong having watched several documentaries about this amazing 829.84 metre tall building and not seeing it... so i caught the metro there.

It casts an amazing shadow across the sky, like a grey rainbow that goes on forever. It is really difficult to comprehend the sheer size of this thing. I stood at the bottom and stared up at it for some time, before jumping on the metro back to my hotel and onward to the airport.

Here are some pictures..

Beautiful Burj Khalifa

Me and the Burj

This statue stands near the base of the Burj Khlifa, and is called 'Together'. It was built by Syrian Artist Lufti Romhein, and is made from white marble and black granite. The figures are of an Arab couple dressed in the iconic dish-dasha and black kandoora in typical Emirati style. It is about 4.25 metres high. 

My eight hour flight to London was great, despite being delayed. I had three seats to myself, so I lay down, drank red wine and spent many hours just staring out the window at the amazing scenery below. Here are some photos that I took as we flew over Istanbul (not Constantinople).

It was actually just Turkey, I just wanted to use that line.

Amazing. 

There are no words for how incredible this was. I cried. 

Next stop, London!

xxxxx

Dubai

I woke up at 10.40 and jumped out of bed, bleary eyed and confused. ‘Ive slept late!’ I thought. I threw open my blinds and stared at the dark skies. It took me about a minute to realize that it was in fact 10.40pm. I had only slept for 3 hours, not 15.

I went back to bed.

At 7.15am I woke up again, this time feeling much fresher (and much less confused). I looked out my hotel window and once again felt proud of myself for being here alone.

Dubai has been a funny place to start, but it really has given me the chance to be confronted by my own capabilities. I have loved navigating this beautiful, confusing, new city on my own. Sometimes I am scared, and sometimes I even think I want to give up and go home. But usually, I just feel proud of myself for being on my own. I feel excited. I feel surprised.

So after I had my moment of pride, showered and dressed in modest clothes that covered far too much of my body for this beautiful 26 degree day, I set off to find my bus tour. I got lost again (there is a huge shopping mall next to my hotel – and literally every time I leave my hotel, I get lost in the mall) but still managed to be on the very first bus.

Oh, and a highlight of my morning - while I was lost I stumbled across the hugest, biggest, largest megahugesupermarket that you can imagine. It was like if you took Kmart, Harvey Norman, Toys R Us, Goldmark (yes jewellery), and Coles, and put them all in one big huge shop. I wandered through every aisle in awe, took a photo of the Barbie wearing a burqa, bought a carton of cigarettes and a pack of gum for 76 dirham ($20), and left, impressed.

The bus tour started out as I expected. Several tourists were on board (some loud jolly Germans, a few Frenchies and a huge Indian family who sat inside the bus and seemed far more interested in rationing their packets of food then the tour). I was the only one who was alone at first, so I plugged in my headphones and listened to the audio commentary which was pretty good, I learned many little facts - which I have now forgotten (except did you know that Dubai consumes the most water out of any country in the world? Yes. Amazing.)

Eventually I made a couple of friends, an Australian couple about my age who kept having to slap eachother’s hands away because of the laws about public affection, and an English guy in his late 50s named Peter. I sat with Peter for most of the day, he’s retired, has kids my age and bought me lunch (no mum, he was not sleazy). At about 2pm, the Aussie couple, Peter and I, went wandering through the textile souk – which is an amazing market full of divine fabrics. I thought of mum a lot here, and took photos of the sparkles and sequins that I knew she would love.  It was around this point where we all realized that we had no idea where the tour bus had dropped us off, or how to get back on it. To cut a very long story short, we were lost for about two hours, and the bus tour became a self guided walking tour, with a very dodgy map provided by the bus company, and four tourists with absolutely no idea.  It was awesome. I even saw a camel. 

Here are some photos from my day...

This is a shopping mall, I didn't get off the tour bus here, but I am told the architecture is stunning. 

I don't remember what this is, but it's cool. 

This is a bank, I liked the way the water is reflected in the glass, and also how there is a giant hole in the bottom of the building. 

This mermaid was at the front of our boat.  Pretty. 

Boats in the harbour, exporting all sorts of stuff and things. 

Obligatory me shot. 

Mum I wish you were here, I wanted to buy you ALL of this fabric. 

Blingin at the gold souk. 

Some of this jewellery was absolutely stunning. 

Spice souk, the smells were incredible, I had my nose in every bucket. Pretty sure customs would stop me if I tried to bring anything anywhere so i didn't purchase anything :(

We eventually found the bus, re-embarked, and by this time had such sore feet that we decided that it was time to go back to our respective hotels. I couldn’t quite do that without getting lost in the mall, accidently going shopping, buying two skirts, some make up, some underwear and some sunglasses (AT LAST), and getting lost again.

I had a glass of wine, and some kind of fish with vegetable ratatouille (yeah, the restaurant in my hotel is French), and have now retired to my little room in the hopes of figuring out how to work my TV. Tommorrow I have to be at the airport at 11.30am. I am only about 5 minutes away by metro, and working in the time it takes to get lost and then found, maybe about an hour. I am hping to get up early and maybe go and see the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) and The Palm islands – as two of the most famous Dubai attractions, I managed to miss them both today.

Goodnight my friends.

xxx

Cheers to my uterus

I am super excited that my uterus has decided to delay my 'lady time' by almost two weeks this month.

The reasons for my excitement are as follows.

 Firstly, there is nothing like a pre-travel pregnancy scare to get the party started. Wondering if I'd managed to get knocked up before my big adventure was great fun. It gave me the chance to freak out, panic a little, pee on a stick (who doesn't love doing that!) and briefly entertain the idea of travelling the world with a bun in the oven...

Secondly, it has been really fun wrestling with PMS while I prepare for this huge life change and journey to the other side of the world all by myself. I've had some really cool mood swings and some excellent crying spells. I have also thoroughly enjoyed the bloated feeling and the insatiable cravings for ice cream and chocolate peppermint frogs.

But the third, and MOST exciting thing about my uterus delaying my lady time by almost two weeks has got to be this. I don't think there is ANY more exciting time to have your period, than when you are on a 20 hour aeroplane flight. I am looking so forward to the aeroplane bathroom trips, the mile-high cramps, and the lack of hot water bottles.

So, thank you uterus. Great timing. You have really done well this time.

Why I will not be wearing high heels to the airport.

The Beginning

Today's project is to start my travel blog. "Oh but Maddy, you don't leave for a week!" you might say, and you would be correct- well almost.

I googled it, and in fact it is6 days, 18 hours, and 8 minutes until my plane is scheduled to depart. So, it is less than a week.

So why start my travel blog today (apart from 'because screw you, thats why')? Well, because the last few days have been a roller coaster. I have decided that this part is as much a part of the journey as any other part. Aside from the millions of things I have to do before I leave, and all the beautiful friends who want to catch one last glimpse of me, my brain has been on overdrive with emotions and thoughts and feelings about leaving.

Yesterday I was stressed. I was worried that I wouldn't get everything done on time. In reality there really isn't that much left to do. I burst into tears on the bus because I realised I hadn't yet cancelled my health insurance... perhaps I am projecting? I came home and I realised that maybe what I was feeling is a normal mix of trepidation and anxiety at the idea of leaving my comfort zone. Leaving my friends and family behind, and setting off, into the wide world all by myself. I came to the very rational realisation that it is pretty normal to be scared, and it is totally ok to be sad that I am going to miss people.

I am not usually the type of person that enjoys a lot of time on my own. This is one of the reasons I have decided to do this trip. I want to learn to be on my own. To be independent and not to rely on others for my sense of happiness and safety. It is a scary thing, facing your fears, but that's the point isn't it!

Today I am not so stressed. Today I wrote a list of the things I have left to do, and it was surprisingly a very short list. So instead, today I am excited. I am thinking about what book I might like to take with me on the plane, I am thinking about what the weather might be like in Dubai when I land. I am wondering how much currency to change over and which shoes to wear... These aren't things that I have let myself wonder yet. These are the exciting things!!

So, even though there is still 6 days, 17 hours, and 53 minutes until I leave, I think my adventure is beginning now.

And this is my blog :) welcome

xxx