Italy

Soooooo I went to Northern Italy on the weekend to camp with Nat and the girls + 2 other families. Before we left I had like.. wilderness and dirt and going to the bathroom in the bushes in my mind.. Turns out we went to a shmick campsite with a heated pool and wifi? Hah.. Anyway I had a greeeaaat time. The high light was the 30km bike ride through beautiful countryside, ending with a long, fast windy section down a hill leading into the town centre where a fantastic market was taking place. Oh my goodness housemates you would have really liked this market. I couldn't stop thinking of you guys and also Belinda and Jasmine Koit.

I awkwardly tried to take pictures with my DSLR while we were riding which was fun and which yielded wonky slightly unfocused fruits that I will treasure anyway. Here are some of the other more in focus pics.

Coolest campy car thing ever

Taya's swag which she kindly let me sleep in

Bad-Ass biker kids

It's a freakin CASTLE

I found evidence of Quidditch 

Inside the castle

Castle Keys

This was really cool. Around the walls of the church were these comic (as in Comic style, not humorous) dialogues  between the Saints.  To show that it was a dialogue they mirrored the text of the replier.  

These are all pictures from inside the chapel in the castle. 

The kitchen.

The Chimney

I think these holes are something to do with shooting arrows?

We found a wild cherry tree 

I got stung by some sort of... plant thing.

Spinny thingy

Noor defying gravity.. while eating a bun.

SPICES! At a market stall

I'm still laughing at the name of this ice cream..

Also still laughing at both of the girls faces in this photo..

Dachau

I visited Dachau while I was around Munich the other week. I don't really know what to say about it and it feels a bit odd just posting a bunch of snap shots that I took, (Here is a photo of me in a gas chamber???) No. It was confronting and disturbing to say the least and although I left feeling depressed and with a resounding 'WHY?' echoing in my head, I am definitely glad that I went to visit.

"Never again"

Well

Well I haven't posted nearly as many times as I planned to.. But that is probably a good thing right? It means I've been doing stuff.. Right?

Only three weeks left in beautiful Monstein and inevitably I feel like I haven't taken advantage of the opportunities to explore as much as I could have! But you know.. I think I'm ok with that. I know when I need to chill out and I'm glad I didn't send myself insane trying to do too much. (Thats what I'm telling myself anyway)

Last week I did go for a hike up a nearby mountain and that was ggreaaatt!!! Cant wait to do that again next weekend..

Just a few things I want to say before I go...

1. This is actually much yummier than it looks..

2. The sign on this storage container made me laugh

That is all.. Another post re: the trip to Munich coming soon

London-ee Bits

Other than running face first into a pole whilst walking distractedly by Big Ben, I had a pretty good time in London! My newest aspiration is to either build a very large nature spot in my backyard back home in Australia and then fill it with squirrels and pigeons OR to become a Squirrel myself and infiltrate their ranks.. They're seriously such great little animals! I still like Rats more, but they're up there! I bet they're a huge pest to some folk, but to me they're still innocent and adorable..

What else happened.. Squirrels have taken over my brain and I can't remember..

Buckingham Palace

Oh yeah! I saw Buckingham Palace!

And Westminster Abbey.. That was pretty cool actually.

I got to do THIS!

And THIS! I could not believe it when it landed on my hand!

The weather was really nice the first day I arrived, which was LOVELY! I wandered around the gardens near the palace taking pictures and being a tourist..  Sadly, after that it got cold and wet and miserable. I spent so much time on the underground (subway) getting from place to place. I actually really like the underground system, it was sooo easy to get where I needed to go.

The first night I was there I went to see Les Miserables! It was really excellent.. The set design was neat too - the stage had a circular revolving platform built into the floor (a turntable I guess) which just meant people could move around a lot more.. And .. ah I can't even explain the sets properly.. They were just really smart and looked really cool. Nice work John Napier (I think?)

I also spent an obscene amount of time in two different comic books shops and ended up spending toooo much money *sigh* but it was WORTH IT!

Thanks all for now..

If you can be bothered sitting through 8 minutes of me talking to myself / animals there are some cute bits in this video..

Hannah

Dear London

Dear London,

I like your Tube system.. I like your efficiently presented maps and time tables. I like your pretty parks and your free wifi at Starbucks. I like that you drive on the left hand side of the road and I like your hairstyles. I like that you have special seats designated for the elderly on the trains and buses with politely worded signs encouraging people to be considerate. I like that people obey these signs. I like Big Ben, but it's not as big as I thought it would be. Buckingham Palace isn't that amazing looking a building, but I like it too. I like Westminster Abbey but I don't like that it was closed to pesky tourists today. I like all that you have lots of Musicals and I like that you have Porridge at McDonalds. I like how easy it was to find my way around and I like how cheap the beer was that I just drank.

Your kebabs are a little salty though...

from
Hannah