Melbourne, 10.33am
Back in the day, I was in London - final destination! By the time I was leaving Helsinki I was in major pep talk mode whenever I had to deal with my suitcase. "This is it, you're off to your final destination, you just have to get to the airport and then you'll be in London and that's it, nowhere else." Except of course I changed accomodation in London three times, so until I very happily arrived at Jess and Marcus', everytime was not the last time and secretly, I think my suitcase knew it.
While in London, having a fabulous time, I stayed in Kentish Town with Sharon, Rickmansworth with Melinda and Ian and Notting Hill with Jess and Marcus. I really did the right thing by leaving London till last and hanging out with friends at the end of my trip, not doing the hostel chat thing, which I was pretty over. I also got to catch up with Carl, who I met on my Contiki tour, for a few beers in Leceister Square on my last evening. (The Jonas Brothers were also there, I restrained myself from throwing beer at them and using big words to confuse and insult them.)
One of the most exciting events of my trip was meeting Antonia of Whoopee fame, who I adore. I think she's one of my favourite writers and one of the funniest people on the planet, but I was very proud of myself for not hyperventilating or gushing when I met her. I think the stupidest thing I did was get half my lunch stuck in my teeth, which I didn't realize until I got home to Melbourne and saw the photo of the two of us outside Buckingham Palace enlarged on my computer screen. I'm so cool.
Another great part about London was the discovery that I had bucketloads of cash left and could essentially spend as much as I wanted on EVERYTHING while I was there. So I did. I shopped HARD right before I left, threw out half the clothes, shoes and a handbag that I'd taken with me. I also discovered the love of my life (for this month), a black Kenneth Cole handbag. I refuse to put it on the floor anywhere and you must have spotlessly clean hands to touch it. We will be besties for the next ten years, to justify the cost, but it's totally worth it! I don't think London would be fun, as a tourist or a resident, without plenty of money though. Everyone there was incredibly stressed about money and nobody was making enough and they were either unemployed or worried about being made redundant.
I didn't go as hard in London at all the touristy hotspots as I did in lots of other cities, I had nine days and I wanted to have fun and not try and tick everything off in my guide book. Despite that, I still managed to see and do plenty. I did the London Eye, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tower of London, Camden Market, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Madame Tussaud's, Westminster Abbey, the Tate Modern, outside St Paul's, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, plus lots of parks and gardens like St James' Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I spent a very long and happy Saturday at Portobello Market with Melinda and Sharon, followed by a lazy Sunday afternoon in beautiful Windsor with Ian and Melinda. Jess and I went and saw "The Lion King", which was wonderful. I ate lunches and dinners at more pubs than I can remember, I had scones with jam and cream at the Crooked House of Windsor and Toad in the Hole at the Coy Carp. I ate banoffee pie at Trafalgar Square and breakfast at Pret almost every morning. I finally had pad thai (four months sans Thai take away was killing me) at an Irish pub in Kensington and a gorgeous Chelsea Bun from Covent Garden. I hunted down and visited a Nigella Lawson recommended baking supplies shop to buy two cookie cutters.
Basically, I had a ball!
And then, sadly, it was time to come home. I have to admit, I was kind of ready to leave Europe. Although I also believe that's a mental thing. I knew I was going for four months, so that's what I was mentally prepared for, if it had been two weeks or two years it would've been fine with me! Despite thinking that I was running out of "wow's", right up until the end, I was impressed and delighted and excited by everything. The only regret I have is that I didn't leave the time and money to go back to my favourite place, Barcelona, for another couple of days. Not to worry, I'll be going straight there next time, not passing go or collecting $200!
My flights home were fine, the timing everywhere was all wrong for my body clock, but my favourite part was my ghetto upgrade (as it's known in the travel business) on my final flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne, when I got four seats in the centre of the plane all to myself. I wolfed down the meal as soon as they brought it, whacked on the eye mask and conked out for several hours. That doesn't mean I wasn't totally antsy to get out by the time we arrived in Melbourne, but at least I wasn't exhausted and deranged as well as over it and smelly. After an hour of queueing for EVERYTHING at Melbourne Airport, I was out, ginned up, my luggage was taken by the family and two hours later I was finally in my own bed and happily passed out. Four months of random beds certainly gave me a new appreciation for my own bed!
Now, two weeks later, it's all completely normal and it feels like I didn't go anywhere. Or if I did, then it was only for two weeks, not four months. I just have to keep looking at my photos (half of which are still on their way from Prague with the child porn and home made bomb) and emailing my new travel friends so it doesn't feel quite so much like a dream. I plan to post one more blog, which will be all my top fives or tens of my favourites and least favourites. Just in case anyone wants to know where the best laundry was. Because let's face it, that's important! So I will return shortly with the Grand Finale of my Continental adventure!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I Am Fine
Melbourne, 11.21am
Writing about what happened at the end of my trip I think will be good for me, because after a week back at work it kind of feels like I never left. Plus the story you get in this blog is a GOOD one, so enjoy!
In my last blog I mentioned that I left Helsinki, just, and arrived in London, just, and let's be honest, what's a travel adventure without trouble crossing a border?
In Europe, most of the countries are part of an agreement called the Schengen Agreement, which means you can travel through those countries without having to show your passport everytime you cross a border. For Aussies, you're allowed to travel there for 90 days without a visa. There was some kind of communication error between my travel agent and I and I thought I was fine for the length of time I would be in the Schengen countries, 112 days. Finnish Border Security had other ideas.
I'm standing at the Border Security office while the man there is looking very confused as to why I'm blatantly standing in front of him going 'Yes, I know I've been here 112 days. I was told it was fine.' He then said I'd have to follow his colleague. I think it was at this point that my stomach plummeted to my knees and the phrase 'Don't freak out Nicola' ran through my head. That phrase stayed on repeat for the next, oh hour, that I was sitting in the security office.
That's correct! I got to sit on a wooden bench in the Finnish Border Security Office with the other terrorists trying to get into Finland, while the security guys sat in a little glass booth, WITH MY PASSPORT, tapping away on a computer and discussing me at great length. Occasionally one would pop back in and ask me something ('What is your occupation? What is your income? Do you have any under age children?'), while I sat there flicking my nails and not getting into hysterics.
I figured the worst that could happen would be that they would send me straight back to Australia, or fine me 1000 or 2000 euros. I was fairly certain it wasn't a jailable offense, but only time would tell. As for the other terrorists, apart from one bloke who was escorted off the premises by the cops (trying to make a run for it on a stolen passport after killing his sister in law's uncle for cheating him in a reindeer deal, perhaps?), I think I was actually the one in the most trouble. So that was a first for me!
After an hour, two security guys came out and stated 'You have been in the Schengen countries for 112 days, 22 days longer than you're allowed. So we are fining you 300 euros. You will have one month to pay. Please sign here.' I was so delighted that I wasn't going back to Melbourne early and that I wasn't being fined for my life's savings which I'd just spent on four months on the Continent, that I signed with great relief and then proceeded to thank them as they showed me the door out. Sometimes I think a little less good manners and a little coldness is called for, but apparently my parents did too good a job on me.
Adding to the general movie-like nature of it all were the security guys' accents which sounded a bit Russian, so I was almost hoping they'd start telling me about their evil plan to take over the world by blowing up the oil line from Finland to New York. Honestly, I was quite glad that (hopefully) my one and only problem at a border was with the very polite Finns and not somewhere like Thailand.
After that little ordeal I sat very quietly on the plane to London, trying to unwind and regain my excitement about getting to London, finally! Until I got there and encountered English passport control. Apparently everyone had it in for me that day.
When I arrived, I got to passport control before I got my suitcase, meaning I didn't have my return ticket home in my hand luggage, a thought which never occurred to me. I had my passport, I knew that I had only holiday intentions in England. That wasn't enough however, and I was subjected to an on-the-spot interrogation. Stupidly, I'd put my occupation on the arrival card as waitress (not enough room to write cafe manager or better yet, Chief of Operations for the Eastern Branch of the Gusto Group). So as far as my passport man was concerned, I was another Aussie waitress with not much money arriving in London. I had to convince him that I had bucketloads of money for my nine days in England, a job in Australia to return to, and that I wasn't going to marry, procreate and sponge off the system with my friend Carl who I said I was staying with (I wasn't). After a lot of sighing, hmmming and long pauses and disbelieving eyebrows, he eventually stamped my passport and made sure I knew to carry my return tickets next time.
I belted out of there, got my suitcase, stopped and tried to regroup. Good grief! What is it with the Finns and the Poms? Why don't they like me? I'm delightful and inoffensive and my only intention is to spend my hard-earned Aussie dollars in their silly countries. Pfft.
By the time I made it to a seat outside the Kentish Town tube station in central London, I was seriously in need of a stiff drink, but I settled for some wine and a take away curry and a venting session with Sharon instead.
It's a good thing I had such a wonderful time in London to block out that very tiring day! I will save my nine days in London for later this week - that story includes Toad in the Hole!
Writing about what happened at the end of my trip I think will be good for me, because after a week back at work it kind of feels like I never left. Plus the story you get in this blog is a GOOD one, so enjoy!
In my last blog I mentioned that I left Helsinki, just, and arrived in London, just, and let's be honest, what's a travel adventure without trouble crossing a border?
In Europe, most of the countries are part of an agreement called the Schengen Agreement, which means you can travel through those countries without having to show your passport everytime you cross a border. For Aussies, you're allowed to travel there for 90 days without a visa. There was some kind of communication error between my travel agent and I and I thought I was fine for the length of time I would be in the Schengen countries, 112 days. Finnish Border Security had other ideas.
I'm standing at the Border Security office while the man there is looking very confused as to why I'm blatantly standing in front of him going 'Yes, I know I've been here 112 days. I was told it was fine.' He then said I'd have to follow his colleague. I think it was at this point that my stomach plummeted to my knees and the phrase 'Don't freak out Nicola' ran through my head. That phrase stayed on repeat for the next, oh hour, that I was sitting in the security office.
That's correct! I got to sit on a wooden bench in the Finnish Border Security Office with the other terrorists trying to get into Finland, while the security guys sat in a little glass booth, WITH MY PASSPORT, tapping away on a computer and discussing me at great length. Occasionally one would pop back in and ask me something ('What is your occupation? What is your income? Do you have any under age children?'), while I sat there flicking my nails and not getting into hysterics.
I figured the worst that could happen would be that they would send me straight back to Australia, or fine me 1000 or 2000 euros. I was fairly certain it wasn't a jailable offense, but only time would tell. As for the other terrorists, apart from one bloke who was escorted off the premises by the cops (trying to make a run for it on a stolen passport after killing his sister in law's uncle for cheating him in a reindeer deal, perhaps?), I think I was actually the one in the most trouble. So that was a first for me!
After an hour, two security guys came out and stated 'You have been in the Schengen countries for 112 days, 22 days longer than you're allowed. So we are fining you 300 euros. You will have one month to pay. Please sign here.' I was so delighted that I wasn't going back to Melbourne early and that I wasn't being fined for my life's savings which I'd just spent on four months on the Continent, that I signed with great relief and then proceeded to thank them as they showed me the door out. Sometimes I think a little less good manners and a little coldness is called for, but apparently my parents did too good a job on me.
Adding to the general movie-like nature of it all were the security guys' accents which sounded a bit Russian, so I was almost hoping they'd start telling me about their evil plan to take over the world by blowing up the oil line from Finland to New York. Honestly, I was quite glad that (hopefully) my one and only problem at a border was with the very polite Finns and not somewhere like Thailand.
After that little ordeal I sat very quietly on the plane to London, trying to unwind and regain my excitement about getting to London, finally! Until I got there and encountered English passport control. Apparently everyone had it in for me that day.
When I arrived, I got to passport control before I got my suitcase, meaning I didn't have my return ticket home in my hand luggage, a thought which never occurred to me. I had my passport, I knew that I had only holiday intentions in England. That wasn't enough however, and I was subjected to an on-the-spot interrogation. Stupidly, I'd put my occupation on the arrival card as waitress (not enough room to write cafe manager or better yet, Chief of Operations for the Eastern Branch of the Gusto Group). So as far as my passport man was concerned, I was another Aussie waitress with not much money arriving in London. I had to convince him that I had bucketloads of money for my nine days in England, a job in Australia to return to, and that I wasn't going to marry, procreate and sponge off the system with my friend Carl who I said I was staying with (I wasn't). After a lot of sighing, hmmming and long pauses and disbelieving eyebrows, he eventually stamped my passport and made sure I knew to carry my return tickets next time.
I belted out of there, got my suitcase, stopped and tried to regroup. Good grief! What is it with the Finns and the Poms? Why don't they like me? I'm delightful and inoffensive and my only intention is to spend my hard-earned Aussie dollars in their silly countries. Pfft.
By the time I made it to a seat outside the Kentish Town tube station in central London, I was seriously in need of a stiff drink, but I settled for some wine and a take away curry and a venting session with Sharon instead.
It's a good thing I had such a wonderful time in London to block out that very tiring day! I will save my nine days in London for later this week - that story includes Toad in the Hole!
Friday, May 8, 2009
I Am Still Here
You poor things, you thought I'd forgotten about you, what with all the fun I've been having and many many countries I've managed to cram in since I last posted. (That would be four countries, if anyone cares!)
I left you in Norway, back when I was about to start having hissy fits if the people on my tour didn't leave me alone for half an hour. I am nobody's Siamese twin and I'm not in a thriller movie being tailed, so let's all just back off the Nicola for a moment or twelve.
After leaving Bergen, we had Fjord Day. We spent three hours on a ferry burbling up and down two arms of the Sognefjord. Beautiful. Huge huge rocky mountains, little houses and occasional villages on the edges of the fjords, seagulls drifting along with us on the ferry, warm sunlight and icy shade. Pretty relaxing way to spend your Saturday!
Back on the bus and off to Fagernes with a quick stop at another stavkyrkje. Fagernes was very pretty, our hotel was on the edge of a huge lake, with plenty of ice still on parts of it. After dinner I managed to duck out without anyone following me and wandered out to a little tree-covered mini peninsula into the lake while the sun went down. It was incredibly quiet and gave me a chance to breathe and unwind, let some of the tension from my fellow travellers go.
The next day we headed for Lillehammer, home of the 1994 Winter Olympics. They actually only had the ski jumping and opening and closing ceremonies IN Lillehammer, so headed up to the ski jump stadium. Obviously not much happening, but it was a nice view over Lillehammer. For my Mt Gambier readers, Lillehammer is about the same size - can you ever imagine Mt Gambier getting it together to host anything bigger than a BBQ for all the locals?
We were off to Sweden after that, so our tour guide put the 'Mamma Mia' DVD on for us, to get us in the Swedish mood as it were. The Swedish meatballs we had at the truckstop for lunch, bang on the border, also helped get us in the mood. Stayed in Karlstad that night, again about the size of Mt Gambier and even less to see - no Blue Lake in Sweden!
Finally we were off to Stockholm! Had a walking tour of the old town and a 'traditional' Swedish dinner after we arrived. I was imagining Stockholm to be all slick and contemporary buildings, steel and glass. In reality, it's built on HEAPS of little islands, some of which are built half on land fill from the 13th century, and the heart of the city is the old town. It was all built around the 13th century, everything had been burnt down a few times, but it was all wonderful. Really pretty and so unexpected. Our 'traditional' dinner did include more meatballs and nothing else that I thought was particularly traditional, but it was good food despite its inauthenticity!
On the way back to the hotel that night, we went quickly out to Drottningholm (where the royals live, include their unmarried prince who looks like Orlando Bloom, hello!). The palace and gardens were based on Versailles, but not quite as big and the gardens were a bit prettier, less stark.
The next morning we had a city tour, then two others and I watched the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. One of the people I was with said it was a million times better than the one at Buckingham Palace so I'll be skipping that one. The Swedish one went for about an hour, we were about a metre away from the soldiers, there were horses and swords and a band all on horseback doing formation type things, great!
Went and did a little bit of shopping that afternoon, had to get some genuine H&M since it's actually a Swedish company. For anyone unfamiliar with H&M, it's like Ikea for clothes. Heaps of stuff, cheap, decent-ish quality, best accessories for the ladies EVER. I now own three H&M scarves for example.
Had our oh so sad and teary tour farewell dinner that night, wasn't quite as emotionally wrenching as my Contiki farewells!
The following day I decided not to try and cram in more of the excellence that Stockholm had to offer, but to go with my gut and go and visit the BIGGEST IKEA IN THE WORLD. Hell yeah! They run a free bus service to and from the city, so hopped on that and headed to the 'burbs for some storage solution goodness. Turns out Ikea's no fun when you can't buy anything and everything. And it was just like every other Ikea in the world, sad. The one thing they had different were a range of Ikea toiletries (shampoo, sunscreen, towels) so I bought an Ikea deodorant!
That night I caught the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, which is a HUGE ship and is packed to the rafters with tax free booze. The next morning when we got off in Helsinki people were literally rolling shopping trolleys full of slabs of alcohol off the ship. Personally, I opted to go and see a movie ('The Boat That Rocked', cute) and then get an awesome night's sleep so I was fresh and perky for Finland.
In Helsinki I stayed at a hostel in the 1952 Olympic Stadium (have for some reason managed to fit in all this sporty action very late in my trip). So at least my hostel was easy to find, tucked right behind the HUGE Olympic tower! Helsinki was not what I was expecting, it was less European and Scandinavian and a lot more Russian than I was expecting. Not the prettiest city, although the White Church was incredible, you could see it from everywhere. The harbour area and Esplanadi were really cool too, little orange tents with some seriously good food happening. My first day there I had Baltic herrings with tartare sauce and salad - yum!
The second day I was in Helsinki was May Day and a public holiday and crazy fun for all the Finns. The whole city packed its picnic blankets and booze and put on little white sailor caps and headed for Kaivopuisto Park to celebrate graduation and the end of winter. I mingled with the masses, had a huge plate of whitebait and potatoes and then tried to catch a tram. Not the best day to be relying on public transport.
From Helsinki I also did a day trip to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. It was only an hour and a half on the ferry to get there and it is a very pretty city. Very small, I wandered around, had lunch, visited the Photography Museum, bought some postcards and was back on a ferry in 2.5 hours, but definitely worth it.
There was also a highly entertaining, if a bit crazy, Dutch guy at my Helsinki hostel too. The three main countries that I haven't visited on my trip are Germany, Belgium and Holland. When I tell a German I'm not visiting their country, they are okay about it and agree that it should be top of my list for next time. The Belgians are sad that I'm not visiting their country, mainly because I'll miss out on all the good beer. But the Dutch! MAN are they cranky when I say I'm not going there! So this Dutch guy at my hostel proceeded to tell me how my entire country and life were all because of everything the Dutch have done for us Aussies, from Gus Hedding coaching our soccer team into the World Cup, to the Dutch naming New Zealand and inventing Heineken. He then took great joy in showing off his new pimp shoes that he'd just bought. He was fairly interesting.
I left Helsinki on Tuesday, just, and arrived that afternoon in London, just. That story is a special one though, which needs my full attention and wittiness so I'll leave this here and leave you with the super tantalizing to be continued....
I left you in Norway, back when I was about to start having hissy fits if the people on my tour didn't leave me alone for half an hour. I am nobody's Siamese twin and I'm not in a thriller movie being tailed, so let's all just back off the Nicola for a moment or twelve.
After leaving Bergen, we had Fjord Day. We spent three hours on a ferry burbling up and down two arms of the Sognefjord. Beautiful. Huge huge rocky mountains, little houses and occasional villages on the edges of the fjords, seagulls drifting along with us on the ferry, warm sunlight and icy shade. Pretty relaxing way to spend your Saturday!
Back on the bus and off to Fagernes with a quick stop at another stavkyrkje. Fagernes was very pretty, our hotel was on the edge of a huge lake, with plenty of ice still on parts of it. After dinner I managed to duck out without anyone following me and wandered out to a little tree-covered mini peninsula into the lake while the sun went down. It was incredibly quiet and gave me a chance to breathe and unwind, let some of the tension from my fellow travellers go.
The next day we headed for Lillehammer, home of the 1994 Winter Olympics. They actually only had the ski jumping and opening and closing ceremonies IN Lillehammer, so headed up to the ski jump stadium. Obviously not much happening, but it was a nice view over Lillehammer. For my Mt Gambier readers, Lillehammer is about the same size - can you ever imagine Mt Gambier getting it together to host anything bigger than a BBQ for all the locals?
We were off to Sweden after that, so our tour guide put the 'Mamma Mia' DVD on for us, to get us in the Swedish mood as it were. The Swedish meatballs we had at the truckstop for lunch, bang on the border, also helped get us in the mood. Stayed in Karlstad that night, again about the size of Mt Gambier and even less to see - no Blue Lake in Sweden!
Finally we were off to Stockholm! Had a walking tour of the old town and a 'traditional' Swedish dinner after we arrived. I was imagining Stockholm to be all slick and contemporary buildings, steel and glass. In reality, it's built on HEAPS of little islands, some of which are built half on land fill from the 13th century, and the heart of the city is the old town. It was all built around the 13th century, everything had been burnt down a few times, but it was all wonderful. Really pretty and so unexpected. Our 'traditional' dinner did include more meatballs and nothing else that I thought was particularly traditional, but it was good food despite its inauthenticity!
On the way back to the hotel that night, we went quickly out to Drottningholm (where the royals live, include their unmarried prince who looks like Orlando Bloom, hello!). The palace and gardens were based on Versailles, but not quite as big and the gardens were a bit prettier, less stark.
The next morning we had a city tour, then two others and I watched the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. One of the people I was with said it was a million times better than the one at Buckingham Palace so I'll be skipping that one. The Swedish one went for about an hour, we were about a metre away from the soldiers, there were horses and swords and a band all on horseback doing formation type things, great!
Went and did a little bit of shopping that afternoon, had to get some genuine H&M since it's actually a Swedish company. For anyone unfamiliar with H&M, it's like Ikea for clothes. Heaps of stuff, cheap, decent-ish quality, best accessories for the ladies EVER. I now own three H&M scarves for example.
Had our oh so sad and teary tour farewell dinner that night, wasn't quite as emotionally wrenching as my Contiki farewells!
The following day I decided not to try and cram in more of the excellence that Stockholm had to offer, but to go with my gut and go and visit the BIGGEST IKEA IN THE WORLD. Hell yeah! They run a free bus service to and from the city, so hopped on that and headed to the 'burbs for some storage solution goodness. Turns out Ikea's no fun when you can't buy anything and everything. And it was just like every other Ikea in the world, sad. The one thing they had different were a range of Ikea toiletries (shampoo, sunscreen, towels) so I bought an Ikea deodorant!
That night I caught the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, which is a HUGE ship and is packed to the rafters with tax free booze. The next morning when we got off in Helsinki people were literally rolling shopping trolleys full of slabs of alcohol off the ship. Personally, I opted to go and see a movie ('The Boat That Rocked', cute) and then get an awesome night's sleep so I was fresh and perky for Finland.
In Helsinki I stayed at a hostel in the 1952 Olympic Stadium (have for some reason managed to fit in all this sporty action very late in my trip). So at least my hostel was easy to find, tucked right behind the HUGE Olympic tower! Helsinki was not what I was expecting, it was less European and Scandinavian and a lot more Russian than I was expecting. Not the prettiest city, although the White Church was incredible, you could see it from everywhere. The harbour area and Esplanadi were really cool too, little orange tents with some seriously good food happening. My first day there I had Baltic herrings with tartare sauce and salad - yum!
The second day I was in Helsinki was May Day and a public holiday and crazy fun for all the Finns. The whole city packed its picnic blankets and booze and put on little white sailor caps and headed for Kaivopuisto Park to celebrate graduation and the end of winter. I mingled with the masses, had a huge plate of whitebait and potatoes and then tried to catch a tram. Not the best day to be relying on public transport.
From Helsinki I also did a day trip to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. It was only an hour and a half on the ferry to get there and it is a very pretty city. Very small, I wandered around, had lunch, visited the Photography Museum, bought some postcards and was back on a ferry in 2.5 hours, but definitely worth it.
There was also a highly entertaining, if a bit crazy, Dutch guy at my Helsinki hostel too. The three main countries that I haven't visited on my trip are Germany, Belgium and Holland. When I tell a German I'm not visiting their country, they are okay about it and agree that it should be top of my list for next time. The Belgians are sad that I'm not visiting their country, mainly because I'll miss out on all the good beer. But the Dutch! MAN are they cranky when I say I'm not going there! So this Dutch guy at my hostel proceeded to tell me how my entire country and life were all because of everything the Dutch have done for us Aussies, from Gus Hedding coaching our soccer team into the World Cup, to the Dutch naming New Zealand and inventing Heineken. He then took great joy in showing off his new pimp shoes that he'd just bought. He was fairly interesting.
I left Helsinki on Tuesday, just, and arrived that afternoon in London, just. That story is a special one though, which needs my full attention and wittiness so I'll leave this here and leave you with the super tantalizing to be continued....
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