UK Big Brother

This is really just a post for those people who are interested in TV and Big Brother comparisons. If you're not interested... don't read further.

For those of you who are interested I have to say that what we're getting over here is much more interesting than what we're dished out over in Oz. The people in the house are more interesting and in the first 8 days someone has had a nervous breakdown and left and another has been removed from the house for having a way of communicating with her family on the outside.

On top of that we have three couples forming, two of which have already snogged. One quite frequently of a night time and the other just a little (I think she feels a bit uncomfortable).

The guy with tourettes is everyone's favourite, as he should be. He is the most open-minded, sensitive and decent person in there. Not one bad word about anyone and he always sees the positive side to those around him.

Two people still don't have their suitcases, which is made even more hilarious when one of them is a young guy who came into the house dressed as a lifesaver and as a result only has a pair of red shorts to call his own.

If you're interested in seeing the contestants or reading up on Big Brother UK, check out my links to the right. I think you'll find it's worth it!

Eurovision Heaven!!!

As you must surely know, the 51st Annual Eurovision Song Contest occured last Saturday night... and what a fantastic event it was. For those of you who were silly enough to miss it, I'm here to share the highlights. Alternatively, you could check out the official Eurovision website at http://www.eurovision.tv/english/index.htm

There was the usual mix of interesting fashion, lyrics and commentary thatI justcan't get enough of. I'll start with the winners though, because they've earned it.

2006 saw Finland's Lordi win with their surefire hard rock hit 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. Now this band were favourites going into the cometition, despite their not quite being what you'd expect from Eurovision. (See picture below.) For all of their costumes and makeup though I thought they were a little tame. If you're going to dress up like a devil why not act up a bit to show that you really mean it. Ahh well. I laughed and laughed when I realised that they'd won.

Other highlights included the German entry that were oh so country. I guess they were trying to appeal to all of the European voters who are Texas expats. (The song was really ordinary too!)

There was also the Lithuanian entry that must have been feeling quite confident with their song 'We Are The Winners... of Eurovision'. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it and can't get it out of my head. Very funny!

Of course I must make mention of the UK entry... Daz Sampson and his song 'Teenage Life'. This middle aged man strutted around on stage with a bunch of young girls dressed in school uniforms singing about the difficulties of being a teen in today's world. Oh please! Still bloody funny though!

And finally my favourite entrant of the night... Spain's Las Ketchup with 'Bloody Mary'. These girls danced around on cheap office chairs (badly) and sang lyrics like "duty free, duty free, duty free... un bloddy mary pour favour". I really need to get a recording because it was truly spectacular in a really tragic way!

I can't wait for nextyear!!!

UK TV

I thoroughly enjoy UK TV... and justas well too when I have to pay for the priveledge of using it!

This week is particularly exciting. I had been feeling a little glum ever since I found out that I would be missing Big Brother. That all changed when I realised that the UK version was starting up this week, and boy do they know how to pick housemates! I'll be sure to give a better description in the coming days but for know just know that they've got two totally different and openly camp gay men, a gold-digger, a plastic surgery junkie, a woman who doesn't believe that people need friends and a bunch of other people who love themselves far too much. Things are already tense after only 24 hours!

The other television highlight occurs tonight! Yes, it's Eurovision time and I have to say... I'm jumping out of my skin with the anticipation. I've seen the UK entrant (I actually voted for the sad old man going through a middle aged crisis) and if he's the general idication of whatwe're in for I am going to be wetting myself with laughter all night. (Adie has told me I'm not allowed to vote, but I most certainly will if I feel the need!)

So, tomorrow I will get back to you with all of the vital info about the housemates... I should also mention the young man with tourettes that they've plonked in there and the fact that the public can find themselves in the house by finding a "golden ticket" hiding in their kitkat a la Willy Wonka... and whether or not Eurovision is all I've dreamed of.

Back to the TV guide!

Life Is A Rollercoaster

Since the end of last year we have been to America, Canada, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria (not to mention several interesting places in England). We have plans to do all that and more again in the near future, but at the moment we're stuck working in London. Something that isn't so much interesting as it is annoying.

While we understand the need to work so that we can earn pounds to fund all of this travel, at times like this where we are stuck in the middle of a six week stint of zoo-keeping it's tough to not feel antsy and want to be out there in the middle of it all.

So we find ourselves going from incredibly excited about travel, to depressed about work, to longingly thinking of home, and back to being excited about travel.

We did have a fantastic weekend just passed though. We went to visit family and were thoroughly spoilt... whether they think that or not. We had a barbeque! How fabulous. We also had a Sunday roast complete with Yorkshire puddings which, despite the cook's apologies, I thought were perfect. We also went for a nice walk in the mud to see the fields of bluebells that grow naturally throughout this beautiful wood. Yes, it was dirty, but quite spectacular to see.

I think Adie and I realise how lucky we are to have family here in England. Thanks go to them all for letting us have a peaceful and comfortable weekend.

Happy Mothers Day

Why do different countries have to celebrate Mother's Day at different times of the year? It does make it a little more complicated when trying to find the appropriate card.

Anyway... Happy Mother's Day Mum. We hope that you had a fantastic time and that you we were looked after on this day.

A Change Is As Good As A Holiday

I've tried really hard not to whinge too much about work on this blog because really, who wants to read my complaints. But, I have to admit this post is about work. Changes are afoot.

Adie has been doing day to day supply for a couple of weeks and although most days have been okay, he's ecstatic to be going back to Transport for London, a job he thoroughly enjoys.

I am still at the same school and, although some classes are on the improve, I'm still not enjoying myself. So I have decided to not return after Italy. My experiences instead will be without responsibilities and they will be varied. So, instead of the same kids frustrating me each week, it will be a new group!

I feel so much better knowing that this job is going to end soon and that I'll be able to try out some other schools. (Especially considering that one of these special young children justthought it would be appropriate to squirt water at me during my last lesson. It's amazing how much more difficult it is to stay cool, clam and collected when your skirt is cold, damp and clinging. Not one of my lovelies fortunately.)

Oma

Just one last post today. When we were in Munich we were lucky enough to see my Oma, who is turning 100 in a few days time. I wanted to put her on her with me. I also have a lovely one of Oma, my dad and myself but dad will need to give me permission before I put his face on my blog.
Happy Birthday Oma!

Finally All Of The Photos From Our Trip

One place we visited and just weren't prepared for was Vienna. Had we done even justa little bit of research I think we would have found a thousand things to do but as we hadn't taken the time to do any we felt a little lost. This was the one place where we were lefton our own before the orientation tour so we just wandered around the city a little aimlessly trying to work out what some of the buildings or statues might be. After we'd done the tour we realised that, among other things, we really would've loved to have seen the Lipizzaner horses as they trained but because we didn't know about them we ran out of time in the end.

This first photo is of the gardens that are situated out the back of Schonbrunn Palace. Even though they weren't yet in full bloom, they were really tremendous to look at. Adie has always wanted a water feature in our backyard... I hope he didn't get any ideas here! After Vienna we made our way to Prague, one of the busiest tourist destinations in Europe. It's easy to see why. It is absolutely stunning! Unfortunately you do have to be really careful of pickpockets here though, especially in the old town square because of the sheer numbers of people bustling around. One lady on our tour had a change purse taken and a similar thing happened on Chip and Dale's tour of Prague. They have a very famous bridge here called the Charles Bridge and it started with one of the original towers from the old city wall. Quite impressive. On the bridge are thirty stautues of various figures. The one I'm touching below is supposed to bring you good luck... that's why it's gold underneath, everyone keeps having a rub.This is a photo along the river looking towards the Charles Birdge. It was so breathtaking we just had to stop. This place must be so beautiful through summer.This is a shot of Adie standing on something tall looking out over a city of some description. I have no idea where or when. I'd say he proabably knows. (I have a funny feeling it actually may be near a small church at the top of the smalleststreetyou can possibly imagine at the artists szentedre in Budapest, but I could be extremely misguided.In each country we visited there was the opportunity to go to a cultural dinner. At each one of these they would perform traditional dances and songs and they would also get people up to get involved. Adie usually ended up dancing with them because it was obvious that the wine was helping him to relax! This was at the gypsy dinner and Adie was expected to dance around some bottles while blindfolded and then had to drink a big glass of wine when he'd finished. At least it wasn't schnapps!Between Prague and Munich, we stopped in Rothenburg on the Romantic Road. This is a beautiful little town set out on a hill showing some stunning views and offering some delightful food. (Remind me not to use the word 'delightful' again.) This photo is of us eating our lunch. Adie had some sausages (when in Rome...) and I had the most amazing asparagus soup! And, it was warm enough for us to eat outside! Also at Rothenburg, in the town square, they had a family making fresh apple juice with this odd looking old apple press. I had to give it a try. It didn't taste great, but I drank it all anyway. They wash the glasses in a bucket of soapy water as you hand them back so they can refill and pass on to the next person. I probably shouldn't think about that too much.Here's another one of those lovely photos wehre I honestly have no clue about where we were. This time I don't even think I can guess! Adie... what do you think?
Justpastthe restaurant wehre we ate amazing asparagus soup, there is a park and at the end of the park you can look over the a little stream and village and just feel totally relaxed and at ease. This is a view of that place. I wish we had've had a little picnic and some wine because it really was the perfect location for hangin out on a warm afternoon.

And here we both are on the other side of the park. Ahhh. Lovely. One last place thatwe visited was Munich but we didn't take many photos there because it was Good Friday and nothing but the Hofbrauhaus was open. Any photos that we did take have not been put onto CD so I can't put them here. I hope that you've enjoyed our little trip and I can't wait to go to Italy. Only four weeks to go!!!

Never Travel To 6 Countries In 2 Weeks

As much as we enjoyed seeing all the amazing things we did over the two week break, it is really difficult to now separate them all. I do keep a written journal and we pick up booklets and other information along the way, but it's really difficult to separate. Every place we visited had a big bridge, old churches, and old town square and a palace. My brain is drained! I'm hoping thatby the time I get home I'll be able to sit down with it all, do some cross referencing and it'll all become clear.

Now, on to the photos.

The first two are actually of the Salt Mines in Poland. They were both taken in the main cathedral down there. Although this first one is a bit blurry in the background, be aware thateverything in this place was made of salt. We have a whole series of photos of the statues and carvings down there. Most of which really clearly show how intricate this work is.
Hopefully this hsot gives a better impression of the sheer size of this one room. Adie was on the grand staircase leading down into the cathedral to take the photo. Absolutely everything is salt. The floor, statues, candle sticks, the chandelier... all of it. I guess the only things that weren't are the people and the wires holding the light in place. It was pretty impressive.
I love this shot. Please don't ask me to tell you where I was exactly because I'd have to look it up in all of my notes and I just don't have the energy for that! I do know thatit's Budapest though. The view is over the river and on to the Parliament building, which really is a stunning piece of architecture. Adie and I could have stayed up here for days, but we had to keep moving.There was this big bridge in Budapest, again the name eludes me, and Adie insisted we climb over it even though that meant dodging traffic as we tried to get to the pedestrian walkway. It was very much worth it though because the views were stunning. I thought this a better picture than the views though.Do you know I don't know if this is Poland or Budapest! Hopefully Adie will have a look at it and be able to work it out for me. Please post the answer for me baby! It must have been sunny thought because he's squinting. That makes me think it's probably Budapest... but I could be wrong.I'd better go now. I have to teach a lesson in 5 minutes. I'll try to finish putting our holiday snaps up before the week is over.

Photos!! Photos!! Photos!!

I decided to just put the photos on the blog rather than trying to write too much about each place because, to be honest, I can't remember all the details in the moments I find myself able to write. A picture apparently tells a thousand words, so it's now up to you to design a story around what little I offer you in terms of words and the silly amount of pictures that go with them!

Whenm in Poland, we went to a Polish dinner where the entertainment thought it would be fun to get people up and dancing. I was volunteered!


One of the places we visited while in Poland was the Wielicza (spelt wrong I'm sure) Salt Mines. Adie couldn't resist tasting the walls. Maybe he's deficient in something?While down there, Adie was also put through his paces to see if he could've cut it as a worker back inthe "good old days". I think he's more suited to modern life.One of the places that I really enjoyed was Krakow. Here I am posing in front of one of the many streets that come of the main square.After Poland, we went to Budapest. Again we really loved this place. The next two photos are of a square that houses the two main museums and several amazing statues that commemorate Hungary's heroes. Our guide here was great because he really gave us a lot of imformation. This first photo makes us paught because no matter what we did, this guy with the violin would not go away. We were worried in the end that he may expect payment, but he just seemed to want to be in our photo.This is a better shot of the heroes of Hungary... and also quite a nice one of me! If you quadruple the number of people you can see in this photo with me, then you might get an idea of how busy this place gets. We went quite early, but as we were getting ready to leave there were bus loads all arriving.From the heroes square, we were on towards the palace district. On the way we had to stop to take a photo of Adie and the view...and me and a random, but cute, statue.
The area around the royal palace was amazing with all of these different areas. One of the things they have here is a catherdral that seems to have been built on by everyone that ever occupied the residence and every one of them preferred a different style. Here we are posing in front of it.
There are so many more photos... some still of Budapest... and also the other places we visitied but the computer I'm working on has a mind of it's own and I'm ready to kick it as a result. So, please be content with this for now and I'll get back to the photos whenever I next can.