That was it?! 2010

 So this is Christmas (ish), and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun... in a little while. I am unable to decide exactly when this song is supposed to be sung. 25th December? No, because a new year isn't just  begun. 1st January? No, because then it isn't Christmas. All very confusing if you ask me. However, this year has happened, whether you (or I, for that matter) like it or not. I cannot remember anything in the correct order so I think this will be a bit of a mishmash of things that have happened. Firstly, it was cold and we played out far more than finalists probably should. It was fun though.

As with every year, I had a Birthday. As with most years I had a cake from Mother. She really excelled herself this time, it was incredible!

February saw a return to Austria to wisit Corinne and Christian in Linz...

...and Sonja, Fritzi and Miriam in Salzburg. Even though it was the final reading week of final year and I should definitely have spent it working hard, it was really lovely to go back to the places I missed and do all my favourite things, such as eating Kaiserschmarrn, drinking in KG and having a megabreakfast in the Adomeit household. These are things I still miss and shall endeavour to make happen again in 2011.

Valentine's Day was, of course, a total non-event. It happened while I was in Austria and we went to the cinema. To this day I am still annoyed that I spent 12 Euros on what was supposed to be the greatest film event of all time:

Actually it was totally rubbish and boring and gave me a headache. Blue people are just not really my bag baby.

There was lots of good TV this year, including My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, My Monkey Baby (I know this is older than 2010 but still one of the greatest documentaries ever made). I have really got into documentaries this year. Oh, and Don't Tell The Bride is another classic. There are whole series' I have missed while living in Austria so I have got some serious catching up to do. Probably my two favourite TV events of the year are...

...and of course...DR WHO. I was initially a bit worried that Matt Smith was not going to be able to compare to David Tenant but he has excelled himself and may be, dare I say it... better. Amy Pond, with her ridiculously long legs and beautiful red hair, is one of the least annoying assistants for a while, but she is still not good enough because I am really the only person who is right for the job. In fact that is probably what I am going to apply for when I come back to the UK.

This series of Dr Who was rudely interrupted by finals. I always knew the last year of uni was going to be hard (especially as I hated it anyway) but it was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. 20 000 words plus revision for translation, oral and essay writing really sucked my soul. It was traumatic and actually I think I have blocked out most of the horrendousness from my memory because it was AWFUL.

We tried to brighten things up with Magazine Clue (Pick Me Up and Love It!), something that I am pleased to announce is still going strong, I arrived home from Wales to a package of the best magazines from the last 3 months from Becky. Also, Kylie, Becky, Sophie and I had our own little room where we went to work. There was a lot of stress and work but I think actually more eating than anything else. I dread to think how much cake/crisps/biscuits/Diet Coke/coffee was consumed, but I do know it was A LOT. Like, more than has ever been eaten by 4 people ever in the world.

Also going on around this time was the elections. As you know, I am not politically minded but there was so much coverage of it all, even I couldn't ignore it and I even voted, for the first time ever. I really am becoming a grown up.

As it turns out it was all a bit of a waste of time and I shan't bother voting again because they are all as bent as each other and none of the politicians can be trusted but ho hum, you live and learn.

Clichéd as it sounds, all our hard work paid off and we rewarded ourselves with REAL CHAMPAGNE on the Piazza after our final exam (German translation, the hardest of the lot). It could not have been more perfect, it was glorious sunshine and lots of fun was had by all for the following three weeks while the weather held out. I have never had so many barbecues in my life!

Also there was the Grad Ball. It was nice, but as with all things like this, it was incredibly overpriced. But I won't moan, it was nice to do something a bit posher than usual with all my friends.

4 years of hard work (and tears, and shouting, and stress, and essays) came to an end and it was Graduation Day. I saw Father Dear in a suit for the very first time and Mother Dear also had a nice new outfit. It was a long day but it was quite nice, especially going to Brown's for tea afterwards, and actually my only regret was wearing a red plastic ring which is very obvious on all the photos. There is a hilarious video that Mum took of me collecting my certificate and shaking hands with the Fancy Man (I don't know who he was) on the stage, if I can find it I will post it because it is v funny.

Much of the summer was spent in Wales with Boyo. This does not mean I am a Walesophile, it is just how things worked out. 

A not inconsiderable portion of the Summer was spent unemployed, which was AWFUL because it meant I had to go to the Job Centre, the worst place in the world, on a regular basis. I was very pleased to get a job at:

If any of you think that working in a toyshop is fun, you are wrong. It was awful and a bit soul destroying actually, especially when people start their Christmas shopping in August, but I managed to earn some money which was definitely welcome.

2010 saw two big Birthdays; Grandad Bill turned 80 and Mother also celebrated an important one. Actually celebrations carried on well into September when Alastair and I cooked a Come Dine With Me style meal:

It was a resounding success, and we even had a palette cleansing sorbet between courses. Nom nom nom.

At the end of September, both Ali and I left the country. He flew off to Japan for a year, while I returned to what I thought was my adopted homeland.

Turns out it's not and it is actually a bit rubbish but never mind, I will be back in the UK soon enough, and will no doubt moan about things here! School is rubbish, my flat is weird and the Viennese are rude beyond belief, but I have got some friends. Not many, but they are nice. We had a Halloween gathering:

Harry Potter came out (not like that) and I was very excited, especially as Ron got so much more attractive. I think if I do not marry the Doctor, I will marry him. I am so excited for the next installment!

One thing that all the Austrians think I should be interested in (but actually couldn't care less is the Royal Engagement.

Yawn yawn yawn, boring boring, but I drew a picture of it anyway. Seems a weird place to end the review of the year but never mind. On the whole this year has been quite hard actually. I did not fulfil my resolution from last year, which was to watch every episode of Come Dine With Me ever made, so I will try again this year. Also I am going to try to use less commas, as my sentences have become positively German sounding, but at least I don't all the verbs at the end of sentences put.

So I will love you and leave you now, sending lots of love to everyone, especially to Aristah san in Japan and hope you all have a lovely NYE and a superduper 2011!

Return to sender

It is a while since I have blogged, sorry about that. I am back in the USSR (United Scrubber States of Rotherham). While town is truly disgusting, as I have found out over the past two days, it is really rather delectable to be back in the homeland. Despite "The Big Freeze" I managed to get back with relatively few travel problems and even managed to fit in a visit to my favourite Austrians on the way. After a very brief stop at the parental home for some macaroni cheese and to see the tiny Christmas tree I went to Wales, which was actually quite nice. I do feel I was mislead though. I was told that Cwmbran was the best place for shopping for miles around. It was horrible. I felt unclean after having been and am very surprised not to have caught anything. Nice to see Boyo and his family though.

Christmas was nice but very quiet. There was nobody to play Winter Wonderland with and there was no point even trying on my own because I can barely read music anymore, let alone play something involving both hands! I got some truly excellent presents, including a bundle of Kawaii which I have forgotten to photograph, from Alastair in Japland. He also sent masks:

I will save it for my trip to Japan which is definitely going to happen in Summer 2011 so WATCH THIS SPACE. Also I got The Tiger Who Came To Tea and some other bits and pieces including a camera. The traditional Derbyshire walk did take place and it was v picturesque in the snow:

Aristah san sensei, this one's for you:

There was ice but nobody to break it with me. This is why we went back to the car after about 40 minutes. Plus the fact that it was megacold and none of us had taken gloves or scarves or other essential winter apparel.

Boxing Day saw the traditional Coates/Boyling reunion. Except this year the congregation was depleted as my three peers all saw fit to be out of the country. I was the only person under 50 by quite some margin. I saved the day by fixing pudding (see below) also there is the cousin of the Chilli Dip Frog, the Chocolate Pudding Froglet. It was berry derishusu.

 Post-Christmas has been mostly spent in front of the telly apart from today when I went to Leeds with Mother for a (resoundingly unsuccessful) shopping trip. It was so fruitless we are going to have to go again tomorrow. Boo hoo. In more positive news from today, I did baking. Maple and macadamia cupcakes:

 and blackberry and apple loaf:

My tastebuds are positively tingling with anticipation but sadly I am in an icing induced coma right now because I made too much so obviously the only thing to do in that situation is to eat it all. Currently I am in the sugar high stages but am really not looking forward to the come down. I will probably rock myself to sleep like a mental person. Can I say that:? Probably not, ooops. That is all for now, I am going to do a review of 2010 when I get round to it, I think it's going to be a good one!

Departure

I do not care how pretty it is, I hate snow. It is pretty much the worst thing I can think of in the world. This week even Wienna has come to a standstill because of it. There hasn't been this much snow since 1995 and it's taken the Austrians by surprise. These are people who have a reputation for being able to cope with huge amounts of snow, so Christ only knows what's going on in the UK where there are no provisions for really bad weather. I was supposed to go to Linz this weekend and was absolutely gutted to find that the flight that should have contained two of my friends was cancelled. What was worse, they were flying from Bristol, the airport I was heading for tomorrow. Abby set off to get back to Atlanta and was stuck at Wienna airport for 13 hours because she couldn't get to Amsterdam. She finally made it home 24 hours later after a night in Barcelona airport. Having heard all of these things, I realised I needed a back up plan. So, instead of flying to Bristol and going to visit Boyo in Wales, I have to fly to Leeds. From Salzburg. Luckily I can stay with friends in Salzburg tonight and it will actually be really nice to see them, and the Parents can pick me up at the other end. I am pressing my thumbs as hard as I can, because I really do not want to be stuck here over Christmas!
The next time I blog I will be in ENGLAND (or maybe Wales). Woooooooooooo!

Post-Communist tour part 2: Praha

When you can find return transport plus three nights accommodation for under 50 Euros, who can say no to a trip to Prague? Not me! The coach took about a million years to get there (5 hours) but it was so worth it. Quite a few people I know are not really very keen on Prague, but I think it is a lovely city. Even though there are loads of undesirables there as it is increasingly popular as a stag/hen weekend destination, it is still nice. Having said this, I'm not sure I'd like to go during the summer. Last weekend it was snowy and very pretty. In the Old Town Square there is a really nice Christmas Market. It was nice to go somewhere different as the markets in Wienna are getting kind of old now, and they are about half the price in Praha!

It was SO COLD, but actually no snow fell while we were there. I think if the weather had been worse we would not have done so much sight seeing. It was nice to see all the statues on the Charles Bridge because last time I went they were nearly all covered up for renovations. 

We mostly did touristy walking around and beverage based activities on the Friday, as well as a route march to find the castle which, despite its size, I managed to lose. It was fun though and we got to see a bit of Prague that you wouldn't normally (ie the residential areas). However, we found it eventually and it was nice. What visit to a Post-Communist country would be complete without some kind of display of military prowess? We were not disappointed, as there was a marching band and some kind of official looking ceremony going on. Didn't get any photos though because there were too many people.

We ended up in a Czech restaurant for dinner. It seemed quite traditional but it did have a tourist menu so maybe it wasn't that authentic after all. We had the most disgusting soup I have ever eaten in my life. It was white and had big clumps floating in it. It looked quite a lot like cottage cheese soup (I am almost doing a little vomchen thinking about it!). Both of us ate about one mouthful before giving up. We were later told that it was traditional Czech egg soup. It was basically boiled egg whites in hot milk. I am not a fan.

We spent the evening wandering around the Christmas markets and watching choirs which was v nice and made me feel v festive. Afterwards we ended up in Prague's biggest Irish pub talking to the strangest people ever. There was Happy Moldovan and Miserable Albanian. You can guess which one I got stuck talking to. I tried talking to him in English, German and even French but he still sat there and looked at me like I'd put a puppy in a bag and smashed it against a telephone pole.

Saturday was a bit of an effort because we were really tired from the night before. After a very disappointing English Breakfast we went on a mission to find the John Lennon wall. We got there eventually but not before we came across some kind of Big Dog Conventions and some huge baby statues. Oh, and I know every European city wants to think it has the original "love lock" thing, but Prague was the first place I ever saw it so I will let them have the honour of inventing it in my head.

We also didn't get much sleep on Saturday night because of other people's very loud drinking games in the hostel. It was SO ANNOYING. However, we survived just about and came back to Wienna for one final week.

Saved by the Poo Shelf

For those of you who are not familiar with it, the continental toilet is different to those we have back in the UK. There is a shelf, which I think is pretty much universally known as the Poo Shelf. I do not think I need to go into why this is so, this picture here says more than enough:

I normally find it quite gross that all the toilets here are like this (I have many stories to tell but I will not in such a public place, these stories are best reserved for those who appreciate such humour. Alastair, for example) Today however, I have been saved by the Poo Shelf. Foolishly, I dropped my keys in the toilet. Now, in a normal toilet this would have been totally disastrous. Everyone remembers the time I swallowed a pound and after rescuing it, it was used to pay at the cinema (Crystal Peaks I think). Thanks to the PS, my keys fell a much shorter distance, and barely even got wet. What's more, my USB stick remained undamaged. I am therefore eternally grateful to whoever designed the stupid toilets in German speaking countries. Danke schön!

Everyone's a little bit racist...

...especially the Austrians. Especially about the Turkish. They are incredibly rude about them and are very quick to bad mouth immigrants. While obviously this is horrible, it makes for some pretty funny mistakes in English classes. The other day I was in a class for the first time (I cannot believe I am still doing introductory lessons at the end of term!) and they were telling me about their school. HTL stands for Higher Technical School. One student said "for our school it means Higher Technical School, but for Suchandsuch school in Suchandsuch district, it means Higher Turkey School". Today in a class we were talking about weapons and the class were telling me how they feel the need to carry a weapon or pepper spray when walking alone at night, because "Austrian teenage boys are often attacked by turkeys" Obviously what they mean is Turkish people, but the image of them being chased by huge birds really did tickle me.
I continue to be erstaunt by how rude the Wieners are. I am kind of tickled to find that not even the rest of Austria like those from the capital. I was thinking the other day about my prospects for next year, and if I could guarantee that I was going to be in schools like I was last time, or if I could stay at good school permanently then I would seriously consider applying for a second year. Oh, that reminds me. I was talking to the teachers earlier and it turns out that Bad School has got a bit of a reputation for being full of horrible students.It's kind of nice to know that I am not just overreacting.
I've been doing a bit of tutoring recently. Last week I got paid 60 Euros to sit in Starbucks and talk to a girl whose English is actually really good because she wanted help writing a personal statement for UCAS. My other tutee is an 11 year old girl. I have to say, it's not a bad life when you get paid to talk about monsters, witches and animals.
Christmas is fast approaching and I am really looking forward to it. In 5 more sleeps I will be in the UK. I have been counting down to this for bloody ages so you had better make it awesome people. Just saying. I have somehow managed to get myself organised to actually write Christmas cards/letters so if you are lucky one will be on its way to you as I write. This is of course provided that I have written the address on and put stamps on, the other day I nearly posted a couple in just blank envelopes. Oh, funny story actually. In a crazy fit of organisation, I decided to wrap all of my presents up the other day. However, this plan kind of fell down in that I wrapped them all in the same paper and didn't label them straight away. So, my apologies in advance if things are a little mixed up!
One of the things I am looking forward to a lot is Indian food *hinthintAGRAHhinthint*. The other night Abby and I went to an Indian restaurant in the student area and it was really cool. It's a self service buffet and you basically pay what you want to. We paid 10 Euros for the food and a beer which I think was quite a lot more than other people but oh well! The food was quite good but it was not very spicy. And the Austrians complain that English food is bland!
Well, I think that is enough rambling for now, I'm going to the theatre tonight (for free!) with school and I'm meeting some of the teachers for a drink first. I know you are all desperate to hear about Prague and in due course (ie probably later on or tomorrow) I will write about it, but right now I should go and get out of my pyjamas...

Pig in a basket...dog in a bag...

It seems to be the fashion here in Austria, certainly in Vienna to have a tiny little dog and carry it around in a handbag. Seriously. I really don't understand it. Even huge strapping men seem to be at it. What is the point in having a dog that is smaller than a rat?!

This week is bad school, though yesterday was actually not too bad. I think this may have something to do with the fact that my bad classes were cancelled. At evening school I did Mardy Bum, listening to them trying to recreate the Northern accent was hilarious. Today is my last bad school Tuesday before Christmas so I think that's probably what we'll be talking about in most of my lessons. Or at least I hope so! The really awful class is today so I hope they are a bit nicer.

In other news, it is 2 weeks til I fly back to the UK. I can't wait! I am literally counting down the days!
TTFN!

Soup soup a lovely soup soup a tasty carrot and corri...orange

Yesterday was been the first real day of snow in Wienna. Still nothing like the UK (yes, I now believe that it is genuinely a huge deal having seen The Parents' pictures) This has prompted lots of warming things, including homemade Glühwein which was DELISH (once we put sugar in it!). Another momentous thing that happened was that I cooked. Yes, really. I have been singing  this ever since because I made carrot and orange soup for Stella, Abby and me. It was quite nice actually, I am going to make it again soon as it is impossible to buy anything less than about a million carrots so there are still loads in the fridge. Maybe I will make bread bowls and get a bit fancy. In other cooking news I am psyching myself up to making gingerbread men for my Good School teachers. Those of you who remember Gingerbreadmangate of last year will surely understand why I am a little apprehensive!
Last night we we decided to go for a couple of drinks because cocktails are cheap at Downstairs on a Wednesday. It was really nice as we ended up running into a group of other assistants who I haven't seen for ages so we had a lovely chat.
 This week is a Good School week and they really are lovely. I never have to prepare anything, which is always a good thing, but my absolute favourite thing is that the students are actually interested in what I have to say, and they listen and almost always respond. Actually I had one bad class yesterday and the teacher wouldn't stop apologising afterwards. She was really shocked when I told her they were nowhere near as bad asmost of my classes at Bad School. It's so weird to see how different things are in two schools that are five minutes apart. Oh, another good school related thing is that I just had a phonecall about Nachhilfe. I'm going on Monday for the first time. The girl is only 11 so it might be quite difficult, but I'm really looking forward to it, for the extra money if nothing else!
Other things you may or may not be interested to know... it is 19 days until I will be almost back in civilisation. Well, Wales. Yesterday my advent calendar chocolate was a cracker and today's was a robin. Thanks Granny!
That's enough from me for now I think, byeeeeee!

Redemption

Last week was a bad week at school, and that's putting it mildly. In a class of 11 students I confiscated 8 phones. It seemed like every class was on a mission to give me grief. A student in one class told me I had a choice whether to be there or not. The teacher later defended him by saying that his English was bad and he was just glad of the opportunity to use the word "choice". Yes, really. Mind you, this is the teacher that a couple of weeks ago blamed the behaviour on the wind. So, I was hating Bad School more than usual. Tonight I went for a drink with a couple of other TA's. Abby and I were sitting in the pub and a girl came over to our table and offered to buy me a drink (in English). I had no idea what was going on and I was like "ERRRRRR.... what?!" as it seemed incredibly random, even for Austria. Then she started apologising and saying how bad she and her friends felt and then I realised that she was one of the students from that class! Her and the five other girls from that class felt so bad that when they saw me go into the pub, they decided to buy me a drink by way of apology. Which was really kind, I thought. Especially as it wasn't them that had been misbehaving. Either way, it was a lovely gesture.

Not a lot else to tell, I have been off today and yesterday and have spent the greater majority of my time wandering around the shops. Today I found this awesome little place that sells beads and books. Only like two of my favourite things EVERRRR. Rather than tidying up this afternoon I have made some rather fetching jewellery.

I hear there is a lot of snow in the UK. Well, from the media coverage you'd think it was some kind of frozen apocalypse. I know of several people who have had days off because of the snow, but one friend (whose information is usually quite correct) says there is actually only about two inches and that people are just being girls about it. This is probably true, and it is really the Councils who need to get better facilities for dealing with the inclement (wow, what a word!) weather. Here there has been hardly any, and what little there was has been cleared away very quickly. I think it's coming this week though, so let's see what happens. No chance of a snow day for me though!

One more thing... I sent postcards from Sofia. Apparently some of them have arrived! Even though I sent them on the side of a tram. I will never doubt the Post-Communist systems again!

Pinsch, Punsch, first of many, no doubt...

While I am not Vienna's biggest fan right now, I am rather partial to one thing- the tradition of the Christkindlmarkt. In recent years I have not got into the Christmas spirit but I think this is going to be different. Partly because I know a baby to present for, and everybody knows that this is the best part of the festive season, and partly I think because of the Christkindlmärkte. There is Punsch and Glühwein galore! So far I have had:


-orange punsch
-apple punsch
-amaretto punsch
-cherry punsch
-amaretto and cherry punsch
-raspberry punsch
-coconut punsch
-apple, cinnamon and vanilla punsch


Oh and of course some Glühwein. So far I have been very restrained and only kept one souvenir mug but I am sure that is going to change as I visit more and more markets over the coming weeks.


This week has been... interesting. The Boy arrived last Sunday and was initiated into my group of friend in true style... deceptively. During our weekend in Bulgaria we hatched a plan to deceive him. An American friend of mine can do a pretty convincing British accent (not the usual rubbish you hear!) so we decided that it would be hilarious to introduce him as Joseph, and Earl who studies at King's College London. It went remarkably well and only came unstuck when Joe realised that it was impossible to eat a burger in the manner of an Earl (ie without using hands) and when he had to explain the rules of American football. Greg was deceived good an proper though, and the whole mission was deemed a success.


Having a visitor (especially one who came armed with Cadbury's and mince pies) was lovely and I got to do touristy things like wandering around. School has been rubbish this week, to put it mildly, so we went to Demel for some coffee and cake. If I were rich (and skinny) I would go there at least once a week I think, if only to watch the people who think they're posh. Of course the cake is delish too.

When I say the best things to do in Wienna involve eating and drinking, I was not exaggerating. We have had:

-Falafel from the Naschmarkt (I am now a regular customer and the stall-owner knows who I am!)

-Centimeter

-Daquiris in some random Mexican place

-Stiegl

-Fresh pasta from a fancy stall at the Naschmarkt (cooked, yes, COOKED by me!)

-Beer and Austrian food in a lovely Brauhaus in Grinzing, which is the poshest part of the city.

Christmas shopping has commenced, and I think I have been to every market in the city. The prize for the oddest sight at a Christkindlmarkt goes to the one at Karlsplatz:

Yes, there were llamas! Not entirely sure why. I decided it would be nice to go up the Kahlenberg as it was the first thing I did on my first visit to Wienna and there is a lovely view of the whole city. After a bus ride and a bit of a route march, we finally made it to the cafe/restaurant/bar I was thinking of. A lady at the Christmas Market gave us a free biscuit and we got to taste some Schnaps too which made it all worth while. And...it snowed for the first time! There was not an awful lot, but enough to excite Boyo and me. Plenty more where that came from, I'm sure!

 On Saturday there was a light dusting of snow across the whole city. I didn't really take many photos as we most of the day was spent watching bad American TV and films (yay for Nightmare Before Christmas!) but this is the view from the Oberes Belvedere.

I just came home from the pub and it was falling thick and fast. Much as I do not like the cold and wet, I am secretly looking forward to the sound of it crunching underfoot. Though obviously if it is still falling I do not intend.

What else is there to tell... probably loads of things that I have forgotten because I haven't written them down straight away which was incredibly foolish of me. Must endeavour to do better next time. I mean, I could write a whole post about how terrible school has been but really, what's the point?! No, I shall save it for next time I'm in a bad mood! 

Turning a corner...

I think maybe, just maybe, things are starting to get a bit better. Perhaps this is just because I have been at Good School this week and my opinion of Austrian students is a little better, but perhaps because I am making more of an effort to think positively. I really think the break away to the East did me a lot of good. This week the following good things have happened to me:


-we got paid. Finally I could go shopping. I am now the proud owner of new boots (more than one pair but I shan't say how many for fear of being ridiculed by several people) and a new coat which is beautiful but totally impractical for somewhere as windy as Wienna. Oh, and another special needs hat.


-HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER. Yes, I realise that someone of my age should not be as excited about this but it was brilliant. Sadly my friends would not let me go in fancy dress but I still enjoyed it very much. Apart from the sad bits which I had forgotten about. But yes, I am very excited for the next part. Must read all the books again when I get home. Oh, and I know Ron has always been rather dishy in my eyes but in this film he has really buffed up. He could save me from drowning any day, hopefully with the kiss of life!


-Christkindlmärkte. The nicest thing about winter in Austria. Glühwein galore. Went to the Rathaus market on Tuesday and Schönbrunn this evening. I could spend so much money there, even just on food and drink. Stand by for more pictures as I will definitely be taking about a zillion more!

 -Süssi. This is a tiny little cafe (quite expensive) near Karlsplatz with lots of French specialities. I had some kind of chocolate orange dessert thing and some really good coffee. Definitely a good way to get out of the cold!

Another thing that could be improving my mood is that the Boy is coming to visit tomorrow. Though I am not overly enamoured by the idea of having to trek all the way to Bratislava to meet him, I am rather excited by the prospect of some Cadbury's chocolate!

That's all for now my loves, Tschussi! 

-

Post-Communist tour part 1: София

As you probably know from my most recent posts I have not been particularly happy in Wienna recently. When a friend of mine found cheap flights to Bulgaria (I think they were 57 Euros return) I jumped at the chance to go. There were 8 of us altogether; 2 Brits, 5 Americans and a German. On the whole it was a pretty good group, though obviously as the intolerant person I am, some people got on my nerves. So, we arrived at Sofia airport and were pounced on by about a million taxi drivers, all of whom seemed desperate to take us to our destination. It all seemed a bit dodgy, especially when one of them followed us to the cashpoint, but we managed to escape and find someone who looked a bit less shady. Even though we were still in the European Union (just), it was like a completely different world. Bulgarian is a Cyrillic language so I couldn't even read things and guess what they meant like a couple of the others who could read the letters. I think I will learn. So anyway... we arrived at the hostel and although it was not in the nicest area it was really good and cheap. I think the thing I liked best about the hostel was that we could play Scrabble in the lounge area. After unpacking (read: dumping stuff in the room) we decided to go out for food. We ended up in a traditional Bulgarian place:

Because we were such a large group they ended up giving us our own private room. I think it was quite a posh restaurant actually but to us it was incredibly cheap. This obviously gave us license to have a lot of wine, huuuuuge main courses and puddings. The waitress was very friendly and surprisingly understanding about how late we stayed there. When we left all the staff were waiting to go home. Story of my life, I always seem to be getting thrown out of places for staying too late, like every time I go to the Hind. Oh the Hind, how I miss thee... But back to Bulgaria. 

Not sure whose meal this was but they all looked this good!

Bulgaria is another hour ahead of Austria but even though it was 1am, half of the group were not tired enough to go back to the hostel for bed so we found a club/bar. It was kind of weird (ie naked women plastered all over the walls) but it was fun so we stayed and danced to songs we hadn't heard for ages. We actually ended up going to sleep at about 6am because when we got back to the hostel we couldn't resist a quick game of Scrabble.

Next morning we were up bright and early for sightseeing. This is what we saw when we stepped out of the hostel:

As you can see, it is still very Communist looking. Having said this, they do have things like McDonalds, Subway and Starbucks just like every other capital city I've visited. Meandering through the town we came across a little market and I think it is quite a mixed up country with regards to political leanings. At one market by the cathedral I came across lots of Communist/Stalin memorabilia like this book:

and of course the obligatory furry hats for tourists such as ourselves:

However, what was slightly more alarming was the amount of Nazi/SS paraphernalia. Joe nearly accidentally bought an SS compass. There were loads of medals, uniforms, hats etc. I bought a ring with a snake on. Now I am a little scared that the snake is some kind of secret Nazi symbol but I googled it and can't seem to find any evidence for that so I think I'm safe. Funny story about the ring actually- I was trying it on and got it stuck on my fat man fingers. So I kind of had to buy it. I did do some bartering though and only paid 15 Wotsits  (the currency is actually the Lev, but we quickly christened it the Wotsit) for it which is about £7.

This is the cathedral, probably the most famous building in Sofia. It's beautiful, with lots of gold domes and fancy carvings. The weird thing was that you couldn't get anywhere near it because it was fenced off. We tried to go in in twice and each time there was a huge queue. Perhaps it's always like that but I have another theory. On the Saturday, Vladimir Putin was on a state visit, so we think people may have been queueing to meet him. The second time we went, some big shot Brazilian politician was visiting so it was probably closed for him. To be honest though I am not a huuuuuuge fan of going inside churches so I am content to have seen and photographed it from the outside

Communist prefab appartment blocks and signs in Cyrillic. My two favourite things.

There is not a whole of touristy stuff in Sofia, but there are some beautiful buildings. We went inside the Mosque which was beautiful and it was a shame we weren't allowed to take photos. The girls had to wear a robe to cover our hair. It was green and much nicer than the one I had to wear in Venice. One of the great things about the weekend was that it was so warm and sunny. Made a nice change from grey Wienna which is really getting on my nerves at the moment.

This building was marked on the tourist map as the "Tall Building". I'm not gonna lie, it was disappointingly stumpy. We visited the Lady's market which was... an experience. There were lots of peasants. I wanted to buy a headscarf as a souvenir but could not find one for love nor money! Next time. Every couple of metres there was a toothless crone trying to sell us imported cigarettes from Serbia. Also there were a lot of stray dogs wandering around. They were all mangy and scabby like the horrible cats in Rome.

We spent the evening eating more cheap food and drinking more cheap wine/beer/cocktails. We went in one really weird bar where we were not allowed to stand or sit anywhere as even the bar had been reserved. Not quite sure how that works but never mind, we went to a place where cocktails were only about £3. I had some wintry one which was delish, it was hot with apple and cinnamon. After being thrown out of this bar because it was closing we went back to the hostel and played Scrabble again (I know I know, very rock and roll!) and chatted to random people until the early hours.

Next day was mountain climbing day. Obviously I did not have sensible footwear with me. We knew it was mountain day very early on because one member of the group was exceptionally excited *coughTHEGERMANcough* and he was stomping around in his walking boots trying to wake everyone up at some ridiculous hour. It was about half an hour on the tram  to the foot of the mountain. The further out of the city we got, the further into Borat territory. As in, there were huts that looked like they were falling down and people using horses and carts to go about their daily business. The first thing we saw  when we got off the tram was what was obviously the village well. There were dozens of peasants clamouring to fill up their bottles, pots, pans, anything they could get their hands on. It was at this point that I decided that Bulgaria is a very good place to visit for cheap shopping/eating/drinking but living there would probably kill me. Actually maybe even three days there has had an adverse affect on my health- I have got a hacking cough and sound like a fully fledged crone! I know this is not very politically correct but it is funny, so sorry. Anyway... we'd heard that there was a TV tower halfway up the mountain with a nice restaurant beside it and that it was about 2 hours walk. LIES. After four hours we still hadn't found it and worked out that we were heading in completely the wrong direction. Not being able to read the signs was a big disadvantage.

lovely woods

climb every mountain...

So, after 4 hours of fruitless walking, Stella and I decided to call it a day and headed back down the mountain. It turned out that the others found a restaurant about 15 minutes further up but I don't care, forests and stuff tend to get a bit samey after a while. The highlight of the walk for Joe and I was definitely being greeted by a Bulgarian as we knew the correct response. I think saying "Dobry den" definitely counts as a conversation. Also on the way back down some children asked us something. When they realised we were English they said "Yes. No. Bye!" and carried on walking. It was cute.

After a hard day's excercise we went to the Ale House. Basically, you pour your own drinks at the table and pay at the end. It was good fun, esp as it was only 5 Levs (about £2.50) per LITRE!!! For the third or fourth time of the weekend, we got thrown out because the place was closing.

No need to tell you what we did after that. Except this time instead of Scrabble it was Ring of Fire. We tried to go out afterwards but because it was a Sunday none of the clubs were open, booooooooo. Still managed to stay up til 4 though.

Monday morning we did a few last bits of tourist shopping and wandering around before we had to head off to the airport to return to Wienna. Oh, to those of you whom I promised postcards: I have sent them, HOWEVERRRRRR... I doubt that they will ever arrive. After three days I had still not seen a postbox so I asked at the hostel where I could find one. The guy told me the postboxes are on the trams. I thought he was talking rubbish and that he meant they were at the tram stops. So I went outside to post them. I would never have found what I was looking if the man hadn't run after me shouting "it's next to the front door! There's a picture of an envelope! Next to the door!". It was literally a hole in the side of the tram. So if they don't reach you, I am sorry.

Now I think you are pretty much up to date on my travels and I will fill you all in on the other exciting (or not) things in my life when I have done a bit more tidying up in anticipation of the Boy's impending visit!