And our Eastern European adventure begins... with Greece!

Today is the beginning of an exciting six-week journey through Eastern Europe with my two wonderful Australian friends Sarah-Jane and Sarah B. We will be meeting in Athens Airport to begin our Greek island-hopping adventure.

After spending tonight in Athens Airport - we're only there for about seven hours so it doesn't make sense to get all the way to a hostel for a few hours' sleep- we will catch a ferry from the port in Athens to Ios for a few days, before taking another ferry from Ios to Santorini.

Santorini is quite special to me. Actually, I probably would not be alive without it. Why? you ask. Well, my parents met while backpacking in Santorini and my name is also Greek. If they had not met one evening on the cliffs of Santorini (think Mamma Mia) , who knows where or what I would be. Anyway, we are staying in Santorini for five days, and unfortunately during that time Sarah B will be returning back to Australia for university. Sarah-Jane and I will catch a flight from Santorini to Corfu, with another overnight stay in a Greek airport I can't pronounce.

I don't honestly know anything about Corfu, only that it is apparently a pretty big party island - hopefully that will be fun! After all of that island-hopping, Sarah-Jane and I are taking a Balkan roadtrip from Corfu to Dubrovnik. Here is the link in case you're interested.

Will keep the blog updated as we travel through Eastern Europe!

London Adventures continued....

The other day one of my friends asked me whether I would prefer to live in London or in Sydney. Easy question. But for a moment I was stumped. You see I have really enjoyed going up to London at every opportunity over these past few weeks. I have managed to meet up with quite a few friends and see some wonderful sites. In the end, I decided that the beaches of Sydney made it my winner ahead of London, but I can certainly see the appeal of London.

The Globe Theatre, London

In London there are fantastic art galleries with free exhibitions, such as the V & A, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Tate and Tate Modern. There is the incredible Globe Theatre on Southbank - which I visited last week but unfortunately did not go inside.Then there is amazing shopping all over London, as well as this fabulous old-world culture to London; for example on Jermyn Street or on Pall Mall where the shops date back hundreds of years and the service is impeccable. London also offers wonderful markets and vintage shops near Spittlefields and Brick Lane, as well as Portobello Markets and Covent Garden. London is full of activities. So much room for activities.

When I went to London on Saturday I met up with my cousins and we went for brunch near Green Park. We had delicious poached eggs and mushrooms and great coffee - it was fuel for our shopping adventures which were to follow. After breaky we then headed along to South Audley Street to look at the Purdey Shop - we saw shot guns that were £100,000 or more. Incredible. Coming from a family with great interest in shooting, this was a very necessary stop on our shopping tour. Next we went to Selfridges where there is literally a 'Shoe Hall'. It is full of the most fantastic shoes - Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Chanel and a great british brand I like called Kurt Geiger. I was very controlled and managed to purchase not one thing throughout. I'm at the stage where anything I do purchase becomes an extra thing to stuff into my suitcase, or means I will have to leave another thing behind, so I try not to buy anything if I don't absolutely need it.

Liberty's of London

After Selfridges we went to Liberty's, which is a department store in the Tudor style - it was very pretty and quaint and a great experience to see inside it. We also walked by Carnaby Street and that area was really cool - people are dressed as you would see in the magazines, and their hair is outrageous. Another coffee shop stop, where my male cousin insisted on smoking a pretty fantastic cuban cigar before we headed off to Gap and Zara to find appropriate clothing for our dinner appointment. And I found a shirt from Thomas Pink. It wasn't supposed to happen, but when you find a nice shirt and it is reduced that much, you can't really resist.

Above I mentioned the old-world culture of London and the club where we were going for drinks did not permit any demin, nor casual clothing. Consequently we had to make sure we were appropriately dressed by buying what we could on the High Street to save us having to go home. At the club, men are expected to wear a jacket, long-sleeved shirt and a tie. Women cannot wear jeans. No mobile phones are permitted inside and there is a ladies washroom very separate to the men's area, as women were not always allowed in this gentlemen's club. The club of which I speak is called the Oxford and Cambridge Social Club. It is very difficult to get membership to this club; just because you have matriculated from either Oxford or Cambridge, does not mean you automatically qualify. Fortunately my cousin's boyfriend was a member and so we enjoyed the amazing privelege of champagne at one of the most exclusive clubs in London.

The decor was beautiful. The ceilings were high and had gold guilding, the walls were decorated with beautiful wallpaper and leather chairs and tables were set out so as to make use of the 10,000 book library. There were card tables, bridge tables and chess boards too. Neatly ordered piles of the latest magazines were available for perusal and a bell stood in the corner of the room, should you require assistance or a champagne top-up. A terrace was upstairs though because of the rain we were unable to use it. A dining room was also available to guests and my cousins had dinner there. Unfortunately living outside of London I had to make a move for home and therefore couldn't stay for dinner. Given the kinds of interesting people that are members of the club, I would loved to have stayed and to have met more people - I have no doubt they would have been very interesting to talk to. As a member of this club you are able to arrange accommodation and any time, 24 hours a day, you can make use of the club's facilities. I wish we had this kind of thing in Sydney. I particularly liked seeing the writing desks in one area of the club, with real old-fashioned ink wells and quills, and Oxford or Cambridge stationery - depending on which university you had attended.

The street I used to live on

It was a really lovely day in London and I only hope that at some point I have the opportunity to live in London, albeit for 12 months, just to really experience what it is like truly being a Londoner. I was born in London and, during a recent visit, I walked by my old house in Wandsworth Common. Considering I was only one or two years old when I lived at my home, I honestly didn't remember it, but it was nice to come back to somewhere I had lived and to better understand my roots.

Afternoon Tea at Fortnum and Mason, London

On Tuesday, as part of my trip to London, I was able to meet up with two of my closest school friends from Australia in Trafalgar Square. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day for us to explore the city.

Sarah, Sarah and I soon developed a plan of attack for how we would spend our day together. We made a tour of the Royal Appartments before taking the tube to Harrods, where we perused the incredible toy displays and the perfume halls, as well as the food halls which were laden with caviar, chocolate truffles, dim sum counters, sushi stalls, a selection of the most delicious meals, like salmon en-croute and perfectly-pink beef wellington, and even an ice-cream shop. If you enjoy seeing good food presented exquisitely, Harrods' numerous food courts are undoubtedly for you.

After touring the food courts we went upstairs to level four to see the famous pet shop. If you have heard of the hair range called 'Bed Head', you might be interested to know that Harrods stocks the pet equivalent, called 'Pet Head', but, on top of that, the stock Roberto Cavalli petware as well as four-poster pooch beds, doggie cupcakes, diamante actually, probably read diamond collars, and even a doggie treadmill for if your pup is carrying some extra post-Christmas kilos. The pets on display in Harrods are extraordinarily expensive, though they are no doubt very well-bread. We spent a fair while ogling at the Harrods pet department.

At 11.30am we made it our mission to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was extremely crowded, but it was a fun atmosphere and we did get to see the guards departing the palace at the end, as well as some of the spectacle.

From Buckingham Palace we spent some time in Green Park and bought some salads from Marks and Spencers to enjoy in the sun, and we all chatted while watching all of the fit runners sprinting by during their lunch breaks.

In the afternoon we headed over to Oxford Circus for some retail therapy, where both Sarah's managed to find some lovely clothing in Top Shop and H & M but, as is always the way, because I had some money to spend, I couldn't actually find anything I liked - it's when I have no money that I find a million different outfits I would love to buy and yet when I can afford something there's nothing I want to purchase.

All of the activities we had done up until this point were warm-ups to our piece de resistance: Afternoon Tea at arguably the best tea purveyor in the world, Fortnum and Mason. Fortunately we had made a reservation a week or so beforehand, because, when we arrived on Level Four: St James' Restaurant, we were told that they were fully-booked for the afternoon. Phew.

The first thing I noticed upon entry into the restaurant was the decor. Beautiful golden wallpaper dressed the walls, while a black grand piano was being skilfully played in the centre of the room. Linen tablecloths hung on all the tables and tiffany-blue crockery with gold edging sat on the tables. The menus matched the golden wallpaper and the waiters and waitresses were impeccably groomed. At this point we knew our afternoon tea was going to be incredible.

Upon being seated we were handed a special tea menu which outlined all of the tea options available. I opted for the Royal Blend, which was strong but ideal for afternoon tea and was presented in a matching tiffany-blue teapot, with a silver strainer and strainer rest, as well as a tiffany-blue milk jug.
The first food to arrive on our table were our small selection of canapes, including a pesto scroll, a gazpacho and a mini-quiche. The pastry was perfect and I appreciated the gazpacho, although I found it to be slightly too balsamic in flavour for my taste.

Next to arrive were our afternoon tea cakes, on a three-tiered silver stand, with the same tiffany-blue plates. Are you starting to notice the pattern of uniformity with their crockery? On the stands were a selection of sandwiches, including beef, cucumber and chicken. I really enjoyed the cucumber sandwich, though the other two weren't as special. Other savoury foods included a salmon blini and an egg and cress brioche. The smoked salmon was lovely, though the egg and cress brioche was quite dry and I didn't really like it.

What I did enjoy were the scones. They were light and fluffy and perfectly served with both an apricot and a strawberry Fortnum and Mason jam, as well as clotted cream. A Madeleine was also on the tea stand, along with a raspberry biscuit (which unfortunately I didn't have room for, but Sarah told me was delicious), and a ginger and apricot cake. I really really enjoyed the ginger and apricot cake, which was moist and surprisingly spicy. We were also offered a selection of cakes from a grand silver platte that was brought to our table. I chose a fantastic almond petit four with a cherry and chocolate skewer and a green filling (but to be honest I can't remember exactly what the green filling was), suffice to say it was amazing. The other cake I chose was a mini meringue with cream and blueberries, and silver leafing. I couldn't eat it all, but it was so pretty to look at, and the blueberries were delicious too.

While we didn't manage to finish off everything, we did put an impressive dent into our afternoon tea, staying at our table for over two and a half hours. We just soaked everything in and enjoyed the beautiful piano playing. The pianist played many classics, but also played things like Maroon Five and music that I recognised only from Glee.  It was quicky pointed out to me from both Sarah's that just because it was in Glee, did not mean that there wasn't a very famous original song before it.

At 6.30pm we left Fortnum and Mason, completely satisfied and amazed by the wonderful experience we had just shared. The company and conversation had been amazing and the ambiance, food and service had been impeccable. At £40 per person it hadn't been cheap, but it had certainly been good value in my opinion, for what was a day to remember for a long time to come. I would recommend Fortnum and Mason for afternoon tea without hesitation and, after all, if it is good enough for the Queen, then it is most certainly good enough for me.

But I'm stuck in the UK

You know that song by Planet Funk called 'Who Said: stuck in the uk'. Here is a link to it It's lyrics go something like: I've never been to the USA, I'm a slave to the minimum wage. Detroit, New York and LA, but I'm stuck in the UK.

Yep. That sums me up pretty well at the moment. Except perhaps if you were to replace the USA with Eastern Europe. See, that's where I'm off to next on my travels and I cannot wait. I leave the UK on the 22nd July but until that time I am working in a very 'rural'- the view is of sheep; nice sheep, but sheep all the same- pub.

I am staying with my grandparents too. They have been very kind to have put me up and to have let a few of my friends visit and stay with them, but living with older people certainly has it's challenges. Spontaneity is rather difficult when you're older, or at least that's what I have learnt since living here.

Mind you, I have done some typically English things like picking asparagus just before summer solstice, and also picking raspberries (with which we made a delicious raspberry coulis) which i have enjoyed. I also visited Oxford last week with Sarah-Jane, who visited for two days. But getting back to my rather obscure song reference, I feel rather stuck at the moment. See I am literally being paid minimum wage for my pub job and, although I have never worked in a pub before, it seems hard to justify the hours for such little money. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers or whatever they say to make you feel better.

On a plus though, I have managed to take some time off work for three days to go up to London on Monday which I am very excited about. My two good friends - both called Sarah- are arriving from Australia and so we will do some sightseeing together. I am lucky enough to be staying with my English cousin in Putney which should be nice too. I am hoping to visit the Tate Modern while in London because, firstly, I enjoy modern art and, secondly, it has been spoken of so highly by my highly cultured Dutch family with whom I spent a very special five days at the end of my Western Europe backpacking trip (extended blog post to come on my adventures in Amsterdam). They told me it was definitely a 'must see'!

I am now starting to get super excited for the reunion with my family in early September. It's funny how after being away for so long you crave such weird but familiar things like simply going to our local Coles supermarket with my mum to do the weekly shop. Or to walk my dog Charlie on our routine walk from Middle Harbour to Manly. Only two months to go.

As an aside, my Apple MacBook laptop, which I usually rave about and talk up incessantly - as in "I would never go back to a PC since I got my MacBook pro" - has totally broken down. It has stopped working and takes about two days to log in - serves me right for bragging. Hence my blog posts are rather sporadic; they are dependent on me being able to access a computer. I will make a more concerted effort to write regularly now though, albeit on my iPhone. It's actually not as hard as I thought to write on a screen the size of a pea, but please excuse all the mistakes.

What I wanted to know though, and please feel free to comment, is: what home (or local) comforts do you miss most when you're away?

Where in the world ...

Here is a map of where I have been so far on my backpacking adventures.

I'll be sure to keep adding to it as I go.

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Nice is, well, very nice.

Plage Mala

Tonight is my last night here in beautiful Nice, located on the South-Eastern coast of France, on what is known as the French Riviera.

It is a stunning area and it has a feint familiarity to Australia, not least because they actually have gum trees (I got excited seeing them because it's been more than six months since I've seen one). It's funny when you're away from home. If asked what I was missing about Australia, within my top 50 responses, a gum tree would not have been on the list. When I saw one, it was a beautiful reminder of good old Oz.

Since arriving in Nice I have visited the Vieux Nice, with cute little alleyways full of shops and boutiques, and flower markets and restaurants that border plazas. We have been lucky enough to have enjoyed mostly great weather (although it is raining as I type), and so I have been to several beaches along the riviera.

Today I went to my favourite one. It is called Plage Mala and it is a few towns before Monaco. It is a bit difficult to find but, located in Cap D'Ail (which means the garlic cape), when you find it, it's well worth the scramble down the steep stairs. The beach has vibrant turquoise water and to the right of the beach are caves you can swim to. There are some nice little white beach huts and beach beds if you wanted to hire them, but I was more than happy on the sand!

I have also visited a beach area called Beaulieu sur Mer, and have been to Cannes beach. When I went to Cannes this morning I saw where the Cannes film festival is held, and saw concrete moulds of Sharon Stone's hands and Gerard Depardieu's, to name a few. Cannes is okay, but it was just a very luxurious shopping strip. If I had a lazy $10,000 I'm sure I would have loved it.

Monaco Casino

Yesterday I took a day-trip to Monaco-Montecarlo, where the Monaco Grand Prix was held last weekend. Monaco is like nothing else. My friend and I walked up the hill to the Monaco Casino, beside the Monaco race track, with luxury car after luxury car just cruising on by. While we were outside the Casino I saw Porsches, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Aston Martins, two Bentleys, a Rolls Royce Phantom - I definitely felt like I was in a James Bond film. And that was without mentioning the endless Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and  other high end brands scattered nearby. So much money.

Then, on the way back down, we walked along the docks checking out the superyachts and the massive cruising boats. They must be worth around 30 million euros each and are all run by personal staff (up to 20 staff per boat). The entire experience was just unbelievable, but it was fun to pretend that I was living that lifestyle as I sipped my latte walking along the pier.

During my stay I have also visited Grasse, which is where 90% of perfume essences come from. I went through a guided tour of a factory called Fragonard, and saw and learned about the equipment they use to make perfume. I also learned the difference between an Eau de Toilette, an Eau de Parfum and then a Parfum.

Fragonard factory, Grasse

After visiting Grasse, I spent the afternoon in lovely Antibes. The beach in Antibes was really nice, it was sheltered from the wind and had proper sand rather than pebbles. Everyone seems to be so nice and tanned though, so I need to work on that a bit more I think.

Tomorrow I am going to Nimes to visit my host family. I am really looking forward to seeing them again, and it will be interesting to return as I haven't been there since 2006.

I will then be heading to Barcelona for four nights, and after that I will take an 18 hour train ride (oh no!) to Antwerp, where I will stay for two nights, before spending two nights in Bruges. I am super excited to be then going to Amsterdam, where I will stay for about five nights with family. Then it's back to England for about three weeks. I think that by that stage I will be desperate for a bath and to be in my own room. I don't particularly mind sharing a dorm with other people, but sometimes the dorms are up to 14 people, and that means 14 hiking packs and not much room to move. Still, it doesn't cost too much to stay in backpackers and  it means I can spend money on other things. Take for example, yesterday, when I had a nice lunch in a restaurant and ate the customary Moules that are so popular on the Riviera. It seemed a shame to stay in Nice and to not try any - they were really yummy, cooked in a white wine and parsley sauce and it felt so civilized sitting in a restaurant rather than eating a sandwich on a bench.

I am enjoying the ability to communicate with the French since I have been here. I have been having nice little conversations with old ladies, with kids sitting next to me on the train, and even a frantic mother who had been getting angry at her kid. It's refreshing to understand the language having spent the past two weeks in Italy, only it really just makes me want to learn more languages so that I never have to experience not being able to understand someone.

I wish I could put up some of my photos - there are so many - and I will definitely put them up once I am back in the UK, but for now, I will just have to put a generic Nice photo in the blog.

Hoping that all my Aussie friends and fam are well - I'm really starting to look forward to heading home (arriving on September 3rd!)

Love,

Melissa

Backpacking through Europe

I wish wish wish I could tell you ALL about my tales of traveling through Italy. So far I have been to Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome and I am now spending my last night in Naples (which is awesome- having seen the Amalfi coast and Pompeii).

Tomorrow night I am going to catch an overnight train to Nice where I will be staying for three or four nights- I can't wait to be there. Having struggled to find accommodation for Saturday night I realized the Monaco grand prix is currently on, so hopefully there will be lots of buzz around Nice on Sunday. I hope to go to Monaco for a day, and also to Grasse (home of perfume).

From Nice I am going to visit my host family who I lived with in 2005. I am super excited to see them again and can't wait to see the girls all grown up.

Backpacking is lots of fun (though at times it can be hard) but when you go out with a big group of new friends to a cool piazza to drink beer with Italians at midnight, or you see the Pope give his weekly address outside St Peter's Basilica, life seems so incredibly good I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

It's quite hard to get the opportunity to use the Internet, but I will be sure to update the blog as and when I can.

From Italia, ciao Bella xx

Angry Boys

Summer Heights High is one of my favourite Australian comedies, written by and starring Chris Lilley.

But the newest kid on Chris Lilley's block is Angry Boys and, having watched the first episode (released this week), it is fair to say it will challenge Summer Heights High for top spot in my favourites.

Some of the characters from We Can Be Heroes - one of Chris Lilley's first series, prior to Summer Heights High - feature in Angry Boys, including Daniel and Nathan who are 17 year-old twin boys. Lilley plays both twins, one of which is deaf. Their past-times include doing 'mainies', (where you drive up and down the main street of town), taking profile pictures of themselves, and tormenting their mum's new boyfriend's dog.

Chris Lilley also plays a juvenile detention centre justice warden called Gran, who has been working in the centre for over 20 years. She is unbelievably politically incorrect, but it shouldn't be taken seriously - it's all tongue in cheek. For example, she separates the soccer team into 'darkies' and 'whities', and makes 'punked' jokes like "go grab your gear, we've just found out you're getting an early release." She even makes the child walk to the front gates of the prison, asking him "where can your mother be?" before exclaiming "Gotcha!". Gran likes to make superhero pyjamas for the boys, including Superman, Batman and Mr Incredible, as well as the zebra from Madagascar, all with doona covers to match.

It's one of those shows some people might take too seriously, but it's easy to see that Chris Lilley means no harm with his humour and that it is intended to make you laugh, rather than to offend.

I look forward to seeing the rest of the series as it is released over the coming months.

Unusually though, the Sydney Morning Herald didn't give Angry Boys a great review. You can read their review here.

It will be interesting to see whether the audience ratings reflect a positive response to Chris Lilley's latest show.

London Town

On Friday my Mum and I took the train into London for a full day (and night) of sight-seeing - after all, it wouldn't be a proper visit to England without a visit to London.

 We had a really fun time strolling through the Burlington Arcade, which is probably one of my favourite places in London. It is an arcade full of the best antique jewellery shops, featuring pieces such as antique Cartier and Tiffany & Co diamond rings, plus the biggest sapphires and emeralds i've ever seen.

We then visited the British Museum and saw the Egyptian rooms. Amongst the collection were the Rosetta Stone, incredible sphinx sculptures and enormous statues (with an individual arm spanning over two metres in length). Some of the items in the collection were dated back to 2000BC - it's hard to get your head around time when something is that ancient.

 In the afternoon we headed towards another of my favourite endroits of London: Covent Garden. I think there is a really fun vibe to Covent Garden, with buskers always guaranteed to be performing. We were lucky enough to see a string quintet that danced while they played, as well as human statues in both bronze and gold. The buskers were great fun to watch, and there were also markets we checked out, which had fabulous Banksy artworks.

We then made our way to the King's Road in Chelsea, which is probably similar to Oxford Street in Sydney's Paddington. It's where Kate Middleton is often seen and it certainly had a very distinctive 'sloane ranger' vibe. Lots of nice shops and lovely buildings too.

After a nice, quick Italian dinner, Mum and I ventured over to the Victoria Apollo Theatre to see the musical Wicked. Most of my school friends in Australia had raved to me about it, my friend Sarah Harding in particular is a strong Wicked advocate (I think she's seen it three times). Fortunately it did not disappoint. Although we had the understudy as Glinda (the good witch), the performance was fantastic and Elpheba had an incredible voice. The costumes were really fun and the music was catchy. I can now join Sarah in thoroughly recommending it.

A really fun day was had in London and, although we arrived home after midnight, the long day was well worth it!

Spring Sun and Stately Homes

Stourhead Gardens

Sorry for the prolonged silence ... sometimes when blogging you lose the desire to write and, for me, I have experienced that over the past month.

All that aside, I finished my ski season on the 27th April and from there, Janine, Paul and I all traveled back via countless trains and the Eurostar to Wimbledon, where I stayed overnight. I then made the journey to Reading and have since been staying with my grandparents.

I was lucky enough to visit several amazing places during my stay here in the UK, a highlight of which was The Vyne in Basingstoke; a National Trust stately home and it's stunningly green gardens. My Auntie and Uncle took me there for the day and we packed a picnic and soaked up the beautifully warm Spring sun on the lawns, before touring the house. What is special about it is that it features architectural styles from many periods, including Tudor and Adam.

Inside The Vyne

The Vyne and the lake

The Servants' Bells

On the subject of stately homes, I had a three-day visit down to Devon (to visit our family - who spoiled us rotten), Somerset and Bath. During my time with my lovely friend Claire - who did a Gap Year to Australia and lived with me at my boarding school - we went to Stourhead, another National Trust house.

Stourhead is made famous by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 movie features Stourhead's gardens, and one of the temples in the gardens, The Apollo Temple. The gardens were teeming with blooming flowers, particularly rhododendrons. Ducks floated along happily on the lake and it was one of the most picturesque scenes I think I've ever seen. Funnily, when you're in that kind of setting, you lose concept of time - it could easily have been the 19th century and I doubt things would have looked much different at all.

Claire and I enjoying our lake walk

As seen in Pride and Prejudice

Such lush greenery

It is so bizarre going from the white, snowy, alpine landscapes to such vividly coloured flowers and greenery. I've enjoyed having some time to rest, re-group and detox - I have hardly touched any alcohol (only one glass of champagne I believe) since I finished the season.

Since my Mum arrived we have been enjoying each other's company and yesterday took a huge day-trip into London, doing things like visiting the British Museum and seeing Wicked The Musical. I hope to blog about that really soon.

The big backpacking adventure starts on Monday so I have lots of packing to do between now and then, but excitement is certainly starting to build.