Howdy, howdy, howdy!
So, you can probably tell, I gave up on that 30 days with Jess thing. It was fun to force myself to write everyday, but it was really boring writing about myself all the time. I mean, I guess that’s essentially what a blog is for, and something I do generally anyway, but it was all superficial and pretty shallow stuff. So I stopped after Sarah! Who is amazing.
Tim and I just got back from our honeymoon, for those who don’t know. We went to the UK and then briefly to Germany, and were gone for just over a fortnight. It was a great experience, and I had a really great time. Even the flying, which I thought would be the worst part, was not that bad. I had so much stuff to do all ready, book, writing book, DS loaded with brand new games, iPad loaded with new books and games. I was set! Then I didn’t end up using any of that, cause the stuff they had on the in flight entertainment was so good.
On the flight home, I even managed to sleep! Me, who has never slept on a plane in all her years of flying back and forth across Australia, slept! And not just a nap either, I slept a solid 8 or 9 hours! It felt like I had just dropped off for a nap, but three quarters of the 12 hour flight were gone. Actually, on both flights home, I was fast asleep before the plane had even taken off. I guess it probably helped that I was pretty sick by that point, but man, it was great.
I watched some really interesting movies as well. I like to watch movies I wouldn’t normally watch, when I’m in that sort of situation, because I’m sort of stuck there and have nothing better to do, so why not branch out a little. So, I watched a weird rape-y thriller with Hilary Swank in it, called The Resident. That wasn’t great, but I guess it wasn’t bad either. Just a bit disappointing, I suppose, because from the blurb they gave me, I thought it was going to be a supernatural thriller about ghosts or demons or horrible things like that. And then it wasn’t, it was just some dude with a creepy crush on Hilary. So there you go.
Also watched an interesting film called 13. Premise was basically, a young man takes a dead guy’s place in a mysterious opportunity to get lots of money. This opportunity turns out to be a cruel game where rich men gamble on who will survive, when all the players stand in a circle with guns to each others heads. Sort of like Russian Roulette but you shoot the guy in front of you, instead of yourself. It’s a horrible, tortuous concept, but the kid has to go through with it now. Very interesting film. Also, had my favourite Mickey Rourke in it, briefly shirtless, so I couldn’t possibly say no.
Then on the way home I watched some romantic period drama called The Princess of Montpensier. That was also interesting, but not generally my thing, so it just got frustrating by the end. Still enjoyable though. Set in 16th century France, don’cha know.
Whooops, side-tracked into following Mickey Rourke related links on IMDB. Sigh!
Anyway, so yeah! The UK was pretty sweet! We started in London, drove on up to Manchester, then up to Glasgow, caught the ferry across to Ireland, raced down the length of Ireland, caught another ferry back to Wales did a brief tour of Wales, then down to stay with Tim’s family in Worcester. After that we flew on over to Germany and caught a train from Frankfurt to Leipzig, to see Chris and Hannah.
Jeez! It sounds like a lot when you say it like that! The time sure flew though. We spent three days in London, which I thoroughly regret. Tim and I both thought that we’d really dig London, but in retrospect, I regret spending so much time there and not, like, other places. Anywhere else, really. It was big and cramped and dirty and smelly and everyone is in a hurry to get nowhere. Seriously, in a place where trains come literally every minute or so, WHY are you in such a hurry to catch THIS one? You guys should spend some time out in Perth where they come every TEN MINUTES, or worse, Sydney, where they come every HALF AN HOUR. Then you can rush to catch a train.
And while I said it was big, it’s also at the same time very, very small. They pack a lot of shit into a very small place, and as such you can go ANYWHERE without going up at least maybe two or three flights of stairs? Maybe even four. No exaggeration. So great exercise! But we just came from Perth, where everything is FLAT. My legs were positively ACHING by the end of the first day.
In retrospect, we might have enjoyed London more if we had done it last, when we weren’t as jetlagged, instead of first when we WERE and we wanted to die. But we saw some great things, if not as many as I would have liked. I didn’t get to see Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace, but we saw Madame Tussaud’s and Platform 9 and 3/4. And really, I’m not that fussed about not seeing touristy things, it was the experience that was most enjoyable. Just leaving Australia for the first time.
Even when we landed in Dubai for the stopover, I was freaking out. “I’M IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!” I would shriek to Tim. It was such a weird feeling, looking out the window and seeing a place that was so utterly different from Perth. And there were all these people that lived there, and did everyday things there, and it was such a novelty to me, but so everyday to them. It made the world seem like a much smaller place, to think that even after a 12 hour flight, there were still people there doing the same things that we might do back home.
Scotland was really the highlight of the trip, for both Tim and me. It was just so beautiful. I mean, England is beautiful as well, and so is Ireland. Especially Ireland, so green! But goodness, Scotland is just breath-taking. We spent a long part of one day, on the way to somewhere else, side-tracked on this tiny country road, not even paved, just winding through the fields through the mountains. Mountains! There were jagged rocks and stones sticking up everywhere, and sheep in the most awkward places. Not even mountain goats, just regular sheep. And beautiful waterfalls everywhere. It was raining lightly at that stage, but it had been pouring the night before, so there were all these little, uh, ad hoc waterfalls everywhere. Anywhere there was an incline of any sort, water would be pouring off it. And it was BEAUTIFUL.
We stopped at one point on this drive to get out and explore a little section of forest on the side of the road. I’d never been in a forest, you see. It was so beautiful. It was like being in a storybook. Nothing like the scrubby bushland of home. There were trees that just grew up into the sky and went on forever, and fallen logs with moss growing on them, and years worth of undergrowth settled on top. Everything just felt so pristine and untouched.
Anyway, now I’m all nostalgic and going to go and do something else. This post is long enough as it is. Next time! The rest of Scotland, the rest of the UK and then Germany! Also, probably some random shit that pops into my head while I’m writing it. Till then, mon cher.
I will miss the 30 Days with Jess! But then really, I get to spend EVERY day with Jess so I guess I am the real winner here. Good recap of Honeymoon, Part 1! It makes me want to visit Scotland all over again. SCOTLAND.
Nice work, blogo-friend! You should totally write more travel stuff! Also photoes?!
Oh man…my maths failed me 🙁
I had not been interesting in Scotland until all your gushing! Poor Steve keeps bieng told to make lots of money so he can take me on holidays to everyehere!
Also…how do I get my husband back? First he got swept off his feet but the new Batman which I didn’t mind watching too much until he started doing the special quests and now he’s run off with Fable 3 and spends half his time flirting with guys or being hit on! Funny how we stopped playing Army of Two as much when our kill stats started getting closer!
Love you crazy kids!