Første Weekend in kōpənˌhägən

 

So I've finally got time to write something about Copenhagen! However, it's only going to be a couple sentences as I'm exhausted and I have class in the morning.  These pictures were taken during my first weekend here a few weeks ago.  It seems like an eternity ago; the weather was pleasant and I was bursting with energy.  Currently, it's raining, windy and cold.

On the first weekend a bunch of us took advantage of the free S-trains.  I'm not sure why, but on the first weekend of every month the trains are free for everyone and shops remain open for longer.  So, logically, we abused the system and caught the train to the very end of the line to Klampenborg.  There is a beach around here as well as a deer park (pictured).  We had brought our bikes onto the train so we were able to ride around the deer park.  After riding around for 15mins we spotted some deer.  They're pretty awesome, but not as awesome as kangaroos.

Madr:D

I've been in Copenhagen for two weeks now and I desperately want to write about my time here.  However, I feel that I owe it to myself to write an entry about my recent time in Madrid before it's too late.  So here it is!

Madrid was hot and humid and unlike Barcelona, there were no beaches to escape to.  I joined a 'free' walking tour that guided us through the Royal Palace and a number of other landmarks.  Everybody seemed a little disappointed by the fact that we didn't pass by any truly captivating landmarks.  Sadly, one of the highlights for me was an eccentric overweight man dressed as Spiderman at the Plaza Mayor (pictured).

It took me a few days to really appreciate Madrid.  To my delight, we stumbled upon the San Miguel Markets (pictured); a food market sprawling with gourmet food and drink stalls.  We indulged in some nice treats such as yoghurt covered in a number of delicious toppings such as fruit puree and nuts.  A short walk down one of the numerous aisles would lead us to a stall that specialised in vodka and caviar.  What a combo!  We tried a number of ice-cold wine-based drinks and traditional snacks amongst other things.

One night we went on a tapas crawl and tried a number of cidars, cheeses, meats, pastries and bread.  It was delicious, cheap and mostly incredibly tasty!  Each tapas bar we visited specialised in food from a specific region from Spain, and we could really notice the difference between each region's food.

Our last day in Madrid was one of my favourite days of my Spanish holiday.  A group of us stocked up on Spanish potato crisps, wine, cheese, bread and other delicious goodies before heading for a picnic (pictured) at the luscious greens of Parque del Buen Retiro.  This is a massive park of approximately 350 acres with a giant lake in the middle for people to paddle boats in (pictured).  We lay in the park for hours, enjoying the shade and listening to Angus and Julia Stone.  This park also houses a number of wondrous buildings such as the Palacio di Crista (pictured).

We finished off our Spanish trip in style, eating churros dipped in cups of hot chocolate at a laneway chocolateria.

100% FEEL OK everybody!

Valencia Tomatoes

The notorious Tomato Festival (La Tomatina) in Bunol was one of the most memorable days of my life.  At about 6 in the morning on the last Wednesday of August, a few of us decided to avoid the crowds at the train station and catch a taxi from our ritzy hotel in Valencia to Bunol.

When we arrived in Bunol, the sun was taking it's time to rise.  It was cold, and there were many food, beer and sangria stalls being set up.  We had a few hours to kill before the siren would sound at 11am for the tomato battle to begin.  During this time we stocked up on goggles and beer before the huge crowds of over 30,000 people arrived.

When we arrived at the main street of the battle we were packed like sardines (of the Australian variety).  There was a sea of (mostly obnoxious) Australians and it was worse than any mosh pit I'd ever been in (pictured).  It had warmed up by now and we were all excitedly anticipating the first siren to mark the beginning of one crazy hour.  The buildings along the streets were draped in water-proof/tomato-proof sheets and the locals, perched on their balconies above, were entertaining us with their music and cooling us down with their hoses.

 

After the first siren, there was a loud cheer and a number of horns could be heard.  Countless big red trucks filled with tonnes of rotten tomatoes somehow wormed their way through the masses. After the first truck passed our laneway, all hell broke loose.  It was only a matter of minutes before everybody was soaked in tomato.  A group of men dressed in spotless white sailor costumes saluted the trucks and soon after, they were almost unrecognisable (pictured).

The goggles came in handy, but easily fogged up.  Each time I removed my goggles to clear the fog, a big stranger would hurl a tomato right at my face.  It was that intense and I don't know why he was so dam accurate with his throwing.  Anyway, I got him back pretty good because I never lose a battle!

We were extremely lucky to have a lovely Spanish lady directly above us pour buckets of water over our heads to clear our eyes and rinse our mouths upon chanting "Agua Agua Agua!" (pictured).

At one stage I feared for my life as I almost had my feet crushed by a passing truck.  The streets were flooded with tomato (it was now inches deep) and as the truck passed me, my feet were literally centimeters away from the wheels.  I had to push myself against the moving truck and one slip or push in the back would've marked the end of my dancing career.

 

The hour seemed to pass by slowly at the time.  We took shelter in some side streets and stumbled upon some sangria stalls to refuel ourselves before re-entering the battle.  After the second siren that marked the end of the tomato battle, we rushed to the train station to return to Valencia.  A much needed siesta awaited us and we spent the afternoon and evening exploring the city of Valencia.

Valencia is a lovely city; it doesn't share the reputation or glamour of it's neighbouring cities but it is still a gem of a place.  The streets are filled with pastel-coloured apartments (pictured), splendidly detailed buildings and very creative graffiti.  That night we enjoyed a final drink with our backpacking friends by a kerbside cafes overlooking a beautiful fountain.

End.

Hola Barcelona!

Hola!

Maggie and I recently got back from Spain and what a great experience it was!  On our first night, Bree showed us around an affordable but hip bar precinct and we ended up in a small bar that could fit no more than 20 people.  The indie Argentine bartender and the one other customer at the bar loved us and we scored a number of free shots and beers :)

The weather in Barcelona was hot and humid so we decided to venture out of the city to a beach at the Forum.  It was a great place to explore, with many modern and majestic structures (pictured) along the path to the beach.  The beach was beautiful, despite it being located against a backdrop of what seemed like factories.

The following day we joined a walking tour of Gaudi’s famous buildings; La Pedrera, Casa Batlló (pictured) and Sagrada Familia.  Gaudi was an eccentric architect and I was in awe with each of his buildings.  I had wanted to be an architect after high school but a family friend had talked me out of it.  I’m sure if I’d followed that path Gaudi would have been a huge influence for me along with Anish Kapoor.

Later that day we found ourselves exhausted after reaching the top of Park Guell.  It boasted a stunning view of Barcelona and a man dressed in a tight leopard print outfit rocked out some sweet tunes to make the occasion even more memorable (pictured).

The central beaches of Barcelona (pictured) were a stone’s throw away from our hostel so I couldn't resist visiting one, despite being told that the further away from the city you go, the better the beaches.  There I got a tan, was hassled by roaming locals who would constantly offer massages and over-priced snacks, and appreciated how liberal the beaches were (although when you see a man standing completely naked in the middle of the beach, it can be a bit overwhelming!).

One night a group of us visited a bar that offered 500 different types of shots for €2 each.  Each shot had an unusual name and recipe, and many of them involved the drink or the bar around it being lit up in flames!  The Kill Bill was filled with tobasco (do not try it!) and the Monica Lewinski is to be drunk out of a dildo whilst the drinker is blind-folded.

The final place of our Barcelonian visit that deserves mention is the Museu Nacional d’Art.  We stumbled upon this place by accident, while searching for the Magic Fountain (which was not so magic as there was no water in it).  We didn’t actually go to any art exhibitions inside it because we couldn’t afford it, but we still managed to explore the inside of the building.  The design of the building was in my opinion, a perfect fusion of modern and ancient Spanish architecture (pictured).  Also, the view from this museum rivalled that of Park Guell (pictured).

Oh! I should mention something about all the dreamy food we had but I'll write about that in my later posts on Valencia and Madrid.

Aardios amigos :)

Skye High Scotland

When I first arrived in Edinburgh I had no intention to explore the rest of Scotland.  However, it only took a few glances at some postcards in a souvenir shop for me to change my mind.  Armed with a camera and some tees, I was inadequately prepared as I set out on my adventure through the Highlands.  Just because it is summer does not mean you don't need a thick sweater, a windbreaker, gumboots and thermals.

The first stop was a visit to Wallace Tower in Sterling.  I'm going to digress from the topic of William Wallace (the national hero of Scotland) because I would prefer to write about Hamish McKye Denovan (pictured) who is not only bigger than Wallace, but he is also more hairy and more red.  Hamish is a Highland Cow and is therefore awesome.

    
After visiting my favourite Scot, we made our way through the dramatic mountain landscapes of Glencoe and then followed the blissful shores of Loch Lochy (pictured).  Loch means Lake in Scotland, but Loch Lochy does not mean Lake Lakey.  That would be sweet if it did.

We spent the night in Fort Augustus, more commonly known as the home of Loch Ness.  The Loch Ness is impressively wide, deep and long; I learnt that if you took all the water from England's lakes, streams and reservoirs and poured it into a basin the size of Loch Ness, there would still be room for more.  Therefore England has nothing on the Loch Ness (ie. England < Loch Ness). I brought my 300mm lens with me on the cruise and managed to snap a very rare shot of Nessie the elusive monster (pictured).

The following day we passed the beautiful Eilean Donan Castle, a castle perched on the shores of Loch Duich.  Our main destination of the day was the Isle of Skye (pictured).  It was one of the most breathtaking sights I have ever witnessed.  It is surrounded by luscious green mountains piercing through the clouds above.  Mountain sheep scatter the mountains to give the impression of white mountain freckles.

We passed through a kissing gate to reach some more impressive sights on the island.  The purpose of a kissing gate is to prevent livestock from passing through a gate.  Being our playful selves, we decided to follow folk tradition and refused entry to the next person until we presented them with a kiss.

That night a klansman dressed me in a kilt that had been sanitised by being soaked in urine (as this was how it was traditionally done, apparently).  The only redeeming factor was that he later told me it was the exact same kilt that had been worn by Sean Connery and Mel Gibson (while he was here to film Braveheart)!  Later that night we partied the night away in kilts.

On the final day we visited Culloden Moor (pictured), the site of the defeat of the Jacobite uprising, followed by the Cairns of Clava, a mysterious rock formation similar to stone henge.

The final stop before returning to Edinburgh was a dreamy forest/waterhole (pictured) which I wish I knew the name of.  It reminds me of a place I hold very close to my heart near Brisbane; a place that only my closest friends would recognise.

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect

I grew a fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival...where to begin?

Think puppets, musicians, beatboxers, magicians, unicyclists and flamboyant costumes.  Now picture these against a backdrop of cobble-stoned streets, ancient buildings, beautiful hills, old monuments and a majestic castle (Edinburgh Castle, pictured).  This is what comes to my mind when I think of the Edinburgh Fringe Fest.

The Royal Mile, Edinburgh's High Street, was bursting with entertainment at every corner.  There I saw the world's most pierced woman, bucket drummers, fairies, a goldfish with a tuxedo (pictured), jugglers, a beat-boxer who simultaneously played harmonica, and an amorphous tights man from Japan (he would change shapes in his show, pictured).  In addition to this street of crazy characters, there were over 700 bars and almost 400 entertainment venues to stumble upon in the laneways of Edinburgh.

With a program boasting over 300 pages (each page summarising dozens of shows), there were numerous shows going on at any one time, each day, from about 9 o'clock in the morning til the wee hours of the following day.  I was lucky enough to score several free tickets during my week at the festival, simply from being in the right place at the right time.  I also managed to meet Triple J host Sam Simmons (who was really friendly and weird) and an American comedian (I forgot his name) who got us into a fun VIP party on my last night there.

My favourite shows (in order) were:

• Nina Conti's 'Talk to the Hand' (ventriloquist)
• Stick, Stones and Broken Bones (shadow puppeteer from Quebec)
• Sam Simmons' 'Fail' (weird one-man-show/stand-up)
• Barbershopera's 'Apocalypse? No!' (melodrama opera musical)
• A Midsummer Night's Madness (RnB/Hip Hop rendition of Shakespeare play)
• Continent (Japanese miming)
• Oxford Alternotives (a capella group from said university) 
 

Quite often I just needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the festival so I was delighted to learn of all the tranquil and beautiful places to visit around Edinburgh.  I especially enjoyed visiting Arthur's Seat (see previous post), Calton Hill (pictured), the Princes Street Gardens (pictured), several museums (for instance, there's a Writer's Museum and they even have a Childhood Museum filled with old toys) and cute coffee shops (I ate at the cafe where JK Rowling worked on her Harry Potter books!).

Edinburgh has so far been my favourite city in Europe, although it may no longer be after my visit to Barcelona next week.

Arthur, Holly and Justin's Seat

Edinburgh is currently jam-packed with tourists.  Its population has doubled this month because of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Holly and I decided to make a nice escape to Arthur's Seat on the outskirts of Edinburgh a few days ago.  It was a 3 hour return walk/hike and we were rewarded with magnificent views, luscious green grass and cool breezes.

I'm currently caught up in the craziness of the Fringe Festival.  It deserves its own post which I will write up later.

Peace out homeboyeees and homegirlz!