Plodding along

Greetings to you all, my devoted blog followers. It has been schon ein wee weilchen since I last wrote. This is partly laziness on my part, partly the fact that nothing has really been happening. Yesterday saw my return to Wienna after ten days in the UK. While Wien has admittedly been better in recent weeks, it was still nice to get away for a while. First stop on the magical whirlwind tour of the UK was Rotherscum, with a brief (but pleasant) detour to see the Grandparents. Though I was only there for two days I managed to achieve quite a lot I think. I saw old friends, went to my second home (Meadowhall), dyed my hair without dyeing the whole bathroom, slept in my own bed and almost learned the rules of rugby. I say this, I understand rugby in the same way that I understand German grammar. I get it in theory, but no matter how hard I try I just can't put it into practise. Oh well, it's hardly essential. Perhaps I should be more concerned about the grammar, particularly considering my alleged field of expertise.

We took a flying visit to Gloucester to have dinner with a friend before returning to Wales. Mr and Mrs Boyo were going on holiday for the week and for some reason beyond my comprehension, I was left in charge. They are under the impression that I am more responsible than their sons. HA. I am a master of disguise.

There is not an awful lot to do in Wales. Apart from Cardiff it is quite boring unless it's sunny, which obviously it wasn't. Cardiff is nice though, this is a nice statue that is in Cardiff Bay:

It has been nice to catch up on some proper telly rather that just American stuff. What I seem to mostly be loving at the moment is wedding programmes. Don't Tell The Bride, Four Weddings and Wedding House are firm favourites, but my new big love is Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. I am honestly in love with it. Do not worry though, I don't love them because I want to get married, it is mostly in preparation for the novelty wedding planning business that my friends and I will be setting up if/when we are not doing proper jobs by the time we're 26. I think light up wedding dresses are very underrated and that more people should have themed weddings. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory anyone?

On Friday we headed to Lahndan Taaaahn for the weekend. Boyo's friend very kindly agreed to put us up for the weekend. After a nightmare drive right through Central London and several trips through a tunnel, we finally made it to the flat, about 5 minutes from Canary Wharf. This did not help with the driving confusion:

 The flat was v fancy. Sadly, given that it is occupied by two 22 year old males, it is an absolute state. Now, I know I am messy, but I have never seen anything like it. It seriously makes my second year flat look like the type of place you could eat your dinner off the floor. Anyway, we headed into the city to get some lunch at Maoz (mmmmmm, falafel) and then trotted off to the Natural History Museum:

 It was BRILLIANT. I love love love dinosaurs, and there are loads. The only thing that disappointed me was that I am still no closer to finding out how they slept. I was hoping to be able to ask a member of staff, but the only person I came across was the man in the gift shop and he didn't really look like he would know. So I am none the wiser. The museum was followed by the first reunion of the weekend:

 I haven't seen anyone from uni since Graduation in July, so it was nice to see a selection of people. It made me miss them a lot actually, I miss having really good friends. That isn't to say I don't have friends here in Wienna because that would just be silly, but there aren't many people that I love as much as my uni peeps. Turns out I do miss something about Warwick. Who knew, eh? Friday's late night was followed with another reunion with the girls. Becky and I went on a mission to find Pineapple Dance Studios:

Sadly we did not find Andrew or Louie or Tricia, but we are planning to go again next time I am in London to do some more extensive research.

I love London, it is just so diverse. There were lots of lanterns as it has just been Chinese New Year. Unless I am very much mistaken, this is the Year of the Rabbit. I used to think I wanted to live in the capital, at least for a year or so. Now, having been there on a busy Saturday after next to no sleep, I am not so sure I could cope with it. I really am getting old. The original plan was to stay Saturday night as well and then go straight to the airport but an executive decision was made to go back to Wales on Saturday evening. A wise choice I feel.

Now I am back in Wienna. The journey back was relatively painless. I was kept amused by a very Welsh air hostess who kept having to repeat things to people when they didn't understand her. During the millisecond bus ride from the plane to the terminal the driver was whistling "La Vie en Rose" which make me smile an ironic smile as it was freezing and grey and nothing was looking particularly rosy. It cheered me up anyway. I have unpacked (kind of) and am now facing the daunting task of tidying up. Think I will leave that for a while and go and do something more interesting, so, I will bid you a fond adieu for now!