Hot Yoga & Gym Time

Well -- Its official I have been / starting to workout again!  I know it's always a drag to get going to the gym - but after I do it I feel 10 times better!  I got these 2 different Groupon vouchers (www.groupon.com).  One is for 10 visits to this gym in Godalming which is an 8 minute train ride away.  They have classes and a full gym.  Really like the size and atmosphere of the gym.  I have used 3 of my 10 visits so far and the voucher was only 10GBP.  Then I got this Hot Yoga Voucher which is 10 visits for 28 GBP.  What is Hot Yoga you ask?  Well it's a yoga class in about 95-100 degree temperatures -- like a sauna basically.  You sweat like a pig!  But it's a lot of fun and overall a HUGE stress reliever!  I cannot wait to go to the next class on Monday.

So far I have decided to pick up on the fitness to keep my weight loss going.  I'm almost to a total loss of 2 stone!  I need to keep treking.....I have a ways yet to get to where I will feel really good about myself - but am so proud of myself for keeping up with everything and eating ridulously HEALTHY!  my grocery bills are unreal - but it's ok!

Eastern Europe has made me sick!

So I've got a good head cold going!   I cannot believe that this has happened.  I first started feeling rough now about a week ago - started with a sore throat, then the runny nose, then the cough.  I have felt good yesterday and the day before and then last night the cough and runny nose came back with a vegence!  I even feel a little bit of a cold chill or maybe fever!  EWW!  I went to the pharmacy and noone spoke english so I got these (not sure what they are) pills that you suck on and don't taste like anything that are supposed to help my what?  Not sure!

Needless to say - I'm excited to get back home!  Really -- me want to get home and not be on vacation?  I know strange....

Where I'm headed next!

I've taken time from my holiday to book some holidays....LOVE IT!


Oct 29 & 30 – Geneva, Switzerland
Nov 5 & 6 – Nice, France
Nov 7 – Photography Class (Mon 6-9pm)
Nov 12 & 13 – Lisbon, Portugal
Nov 19 & 20 – Rome, Italy
Nov 26 & 27 – Faro, Portugal / Seville, Spain
Dec 3 & 4 – Vienna, Austria
Dec 10 & 11 – Munich, Germany
Dec 16 - Jan 2 - Michigan, USA
Jan 6 & 7 - London Walking Tours
Jan 13 - 15 - Ibiza, Spain
Jan 20 - 22 - Larnaca, Cyprus
Jan 27 - 29 - ?
Feb 4 & 5 - Malaga & Granada, Spain
Feb 10 - 12 - Athens, Greece
Feb 14 - Feb 28 - Malaysia, Sinapore & Japan
Mar 3 & 4 - Verona, Italy
Mar 10 & 11 - Barcelona, Spain
Mar 17 & 18 - Basel, Switzerland

Romania to Moldova to Ukraine!

Oh boy.... it's been a crazy past 10 days!  I think that I'm lonely or just tired of NOONE speaking english and the shadiness ?

anyways it's day 10 of the trip and I'm now in L'viv, Ukraine!  I've been having a really nice time actually and am meeting a lot of random good people along the way.  I will be headed to the capital of Ukraine, (Keiv) tomorrow night on an overnight sleeper train and will arrive there Thursday morning and fly out on Sunday morning back to London.

The week has been interesting to say the least.  I have gotten lost a few times, taken a cab and gotten charged too much a few times and have encountered a bloody cold!  Great -

The cold started when I was in Brasov on my last day when I got a sore throat and 5 days later is now pretty much over.  I was really miserable when I was in Moldova - where I visited a super high class winery that cost 45 euros and it wasn't worth it!  oh well.

My favorite place has been Brasov so far and the things that it has had to offer and the surrounding arreas.  I haven't seen all of L'viv yet - but it's a close 2nd and I'm excited for all the Gold domed churches in Keiv.

More to come - hopefully should make it out alive!  LOL

Romania!

Well here are some thoughts from me on this country so far and what I've done!

I flew in on Saturday and spent the day gandering around the city of Bucharest.  I spent quite some time around the old historic city centre.  Took some shots etc!  My camera is again having a wonderful time.  I wandered back to my hostel in good time before dusk and went to bed super early as I was exhausted from the zero amount of sleep that I had gotten from the red eye flight from London.

On Sunday - I managed my first mini-bus adventure in Romania to Curtea de Arges!  It's famous for the large monistarty which was gorgeous!  Well -- that was pretty much the only thing to see in Curtea de Arges -- if I was more adventurous - I should have hitchhiked to the Pieroni Fortress castle which was about 20 KM out; however the weather was completely rubbish so I didn't really bother too much.  I ended up taking an earlier minibus back to Bucharest then I had originally planned and got back around 4pm.  I hit up the supermarket and bought some frozen veggies for dinner!  That's right - the diet doesn't stop while I'm on holiday!

Then I woke up pretty early for the train to Brasov on Monday morning!  the 3 hr slow but very nice train that is!  the views from the train were beyond belief and I couldn't believe my eyes when we were near this city called Predeal that there was snow in the ground!  What...SNOW on the ground.  As we ventured through there - I was excited to know that the snow had left -- thank goodness!  the weather is about 45-50 degrees here so it's pretty chilly.  I got to my hostel around 12pm and when I finally got here after the 45 minute walk with my pack on -- they didn't have my reservation!  wonderful...well not so good when I realized that it was my fault and that I booked the wrong night!  OMG!  so dumb.  well all was well since they still had nights available for tonight and tomorrow at least and then I will most likely stay here a 3rd night and maybe a 4th.  Well I took a mini cat nap and then went out to explore the city!  Brasov is a beautiful place and I was plesantly surprised by it's beauty!  it's super quaint!

tomorrow I will see the dracula castle !

Week from Hell - but now it's Heaven!

This past week has been stressful - yes I said that I was stressed out because of work I might add!  Usually I don't get stressed out because of work; I normally brush it off and carry on but I think that with everything going on and then the trip after - it was just too much and of course too little sleep to add with it.

This week was month end/year end for me in my 2nd month end of being in the manager position.  Last month was very smooth but it seemed like everything blew up this time around!  Probably to do with the fact that it was year end!  I probably got about 15 hours of sleep and spent all of my time working in the evenings.  I didn't even have time to go to the supermarket to get food!  boo!  Luckily my most easy night was Monday night and of course this turned out to be a horrible night aswell!!  I got home from work rather early and refreshed since month end hadn't quite kicked in for me yet.  I decided to check out a gym that was just a 6 minute train ride away.  I got to the gym liked it etc and left to go home and the train home had just left.  So instead of waiting almost an hour for the next one - I thought that I would go in the opposite direction - change trains - and then get on the fast train home which would still be a better option thanks to my UK train finder BBRY app.  Well........

On the way to the next station - I only had to go another 8 minutes out of my way - the train came to a screeching halt and noone knew what was happening.  The train conductor got on the mic after about 15 minutes and just told everyone that there was an emergency stop but we still didn't know why.  Another 15 minutes passed and then we found out that we might of hit a passenger!  WHAT!  so needless to say we weren't allowed to leave the train for quite some time and also I wasn't going to be able to get home either since I had to go into the opposite direction and everyone else that was on this train was going in the other direction!  GREAT.  sounds like I cannot split a cab ride fare back to Guildford.  I ended up getting home around almost 11pm and by that time - I still had to copy up some fruit and veg for the week and was up super late!  fun times.

Tuesday - Thursday work pretty much consumed my life!  I'm recruiting for a backfill for my old position right now which is kind of a challenge!  I really want to get someone that is really dedicated to work (like myself) and it's hard to find the right fit!  and now that i'm away on holiday - looks like no offer letters are going out until I get back....at least!  which means it's another month before we get this person in!  YIKES!  I cannot keep doing 2 jobs for much longer!

Well...that's enough about work and my SHITTY week -- now i'm sitting in my hostel bed dorm room sipping on some wine and typing out a nice lengthy blog.  I'm in Bucharest --- that is!  I left Friday night around 2am and landed here around 7am local time.  Got into the city and into the hostel around 830am.  Got a fine for not being able to find a place to buy a bus ticket - was 15 dollars.  oh well...such is life!  I cannot believe it happened -- i never get caught!  SHIT.

Bucharest is a lovely city - but there isn't that much to see really.  I will take a day trip to Curtea de Arges tomorrow to see some monistaries!  Then 1 more night in Bucharest then off to Brasov!

Just Hanging by the Grassy Knoll & EIFFEL TOWER!

Well on Saturday I had one of the best experiences of my life whilst being in Europe!  It was FAB!  The warm sunny 80 degree day in OCTOBER started with an overnight bus trip from London to Paris on Friday night.  I arrived in Paris nice and early and me and my friends headed to the Palace of Versailles.  After a few train quirks we finally managed to get there to see this LOVELY palace.  The inside was great and I ended up getting in for free since I was a resident of the EU/UK and was under 26.  SCORE.  Once we strolled through the palace, we took some time to enjoy the sunshine and venture through the gorgeous gardens.  There were tons of photo opportunities and this was just an amazing experience.  Then the musical fountains started and it was like living inside of a ferry tail!

After we had enough time at Versailles, we ventured back into Paris straight into the Eiffel Tower.  Once arriving there, we found a corner shop that sold wine - we managed to buy a red bottle and of course they had a few sneaky bottles of white wine chilling in the fridge!  How clever - I learned this trick from my good friend while touring in Nicaragua.

We took those bottles, some cheese cubes, lindt chocolate and more to the grassy knoll where we chilled for about 4 hours.  We saw the tower from day, dusk, and finally by night.  We took plenty of pictures and just plain out enjoyed ourselves.  It was a lovely evening and the grassy knoll was packed.  This is something that I had been wanting to do for so long and I finally got the chance and got to do it with 2 amazing friends!

Visitors! Again!

Well this past week I have been accompanied by my friend Rachel (famous blog reader) who I used to work with at National City Bank like eh 4-5ish years ago!  We haven't seen each other in about 2 years I would guess and she and I have kept in touch via phone, email, and most recently facebook and my blog!  She was super intrigued in me in all of my travels since I moved to the UK and she practically had her ticket booked during my first couple of weeks living abroad!  Needless to say that was like back in April and now she is finally here and it's September.  All in all, I'm having a FAB time with her and her friend Kate.  We started out the venture on Friday - when they landed in LHR in the morning.  I gave them very specific directions to get to my flat and needless to say after a little bit of waiting at the train station, they were rolling their suitcases down the bridge to the gates!  YAY!  I gave them the 2 minute tour of my flat and then we caught up for a bit.  Rach & Kate then took a nap and I finished up work and went out to get some food.  I woke them up for showers and then we headed to London Victoria station to catch the overnight coach to Edinburgh!

The coach experience wasn't super great for them - probably because they were already super jet lagged and then also as they couldn't sleep period because they were on a bus.  I felt bad, but we must carry on!  We had a splendid day in Edinburgh on Saturday.  The weather was just lovely and I actually saw quite a few things that I didn't get to see my first time that I was there.  We got lunch at a cute pub and where they enjoyed their first PIE!.  After all this maddness we ventured to our QUAINT hotel/apartment which is in a different part of town and reached it by dusk walking about 25 minutes from city centre.  We checked in and started drinking some wine and snacking.  Then we went out to eat at a nearby pub which had spectacular food!  I enjoyed a Stella and they were totally into the cidars!

Sunday we ventured out for a day trip to  the highlands and to see some castles!  The weather was needless to say a complete 180 from Saturday so unfortunately it was rain rain rain.  The views were still spactacular and it was nice to just get out and see.  My umbrella took a turn for the worse up in the high hills of the highlands.  Had to buy a new cheap 2 quid one to get me through the rest of the journey.  Sunday night, we took the coach back to London and arrived into Victoria coach station around 7am.

I worked from home on Monday and then later in the afternoon we ventured into London!  We took a 3 hour bus tour with a live guide who was so awesome!  I really enjoyed this tour so much and I actually learned a lot even though I had been on a lot of London tours.  I also saw a few new sights aswell.  We then went to dinner and I had some rubbish fish and chips!  Not good - but I will try them again some time.  It was then dark and we walked from Buckingham Palace, through Trafalgar Square, and down the pedistrian bridge to Waterloo station.  Rachel got some amazing pictures of Big Ben & London Eye by night!

Tuesday & Wednesday - needless to say I've had to be at boring work!  But the girls are enjoying themselves and I'm currently waiting for them to return as I write this so that I can hear about their day yesterday and today and also see all of their pictures from the concert, show, and Windsor Castle!

Who wants to visit me next??  I promise a good time

10 years ago....

Well 10 years ago - I was sitting in Advanced Algebra class enjoying myself thinking nothing of it - and Principal Harris's face came upon the TV stating that there was a huge accident that happened in New York City.  Ha - why should I care, since I was in Michigan very far from NY.  Well the next day, all over the news - this tragic accident was still being broadcasted.  What really happened?  What did this mean?  Well at 15 years old, I didn't understand a lot of politics (still don't get a lot of them at 25) however, it finally clicked that there was a very bad group of people who very badly wanted to hurt Americans and try to make the world fall apart (basically in my 15 year old mind).  Did we ever think 10 years ago how much this would change our LIFE?  Needless to say, I'm sure that this attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11/01 was the worst thing to ever happen and has definitive caused a lot of drama over the past 10 years.  The economy has been up and down the stock market aswell, and American troops have been in the middle east now for about 8 years fighting over what?  Well this is my version of what September 11th really means and I'm sure to others it means a lot more.  Its sure changed the ways of the American life and thoughts and makes me so proud to say that I'm AMERICAN and I'm from the best country in the world.

Let freedom Ring!

Megan Visits the UK!

I had a lovely visit from my Milwaukee friend, Megan (who no longer lives in Milwaukee)!  She and her boyfriend came to the UK for about 9 days!  They stayed in London for the most part and then went north to Norfolk country and then came and stayed the last two nights with me.  They just left this morning.  During their visit - we went to the markets in London last weekend.  We hit of Portebello rd, Camden rd, and Borough Markets.  Then yesterday we went to Bath!  Round 2!  It was really nice to have a friend here and actually communicate with people (americans)!!

St. Petersburg & Helsinki

Last weekend was the UK's version of Labor day weekend - as we had monday off as a bank Holiday.  3 Day weekend - of course I'm going somewhere really cool!  I flew to Helsinki and met up with a long lost friend from HighSchool who is from there, Leena.  She was a foreign exchange student when I was a junior in HS.  She showed me the sights which was SO NICE of her.  Then Saturday night I took the overnight ferry to St. Petersburg from Helsinki.  This ferry was much nicer then I thought and was so convenient to go to Russia; in regards you don't need a VISA!  The Russians are very strict when it comes to needing a visa there - so of course I was game for this deal. I had one day just in St. Petersburg but it turned out to be lovely and just enough to get a taste of the Hermitage and the surrounding areas!   I walked very fast throughout the city trying to take in as much as I possibly could in the 7 or so hours I had in the USSR.  After that - I jumped back on the overnight ferry back to Helsinki and arrived Monday night and then flew back to London in the afternoon!  All in all it was a jam packed weekend (like all my trips) but it was well worth all the hype and turned out to have great weather and an amazing time!

Michigan Love

I was raised in Michigan, where you can use your hand as a map. Where Tim Allen, Ted Nugent, Madonna, Alice Cooper, Glenn Frey, Bob Seger, Eminem, Motown and Kid Rock are from. We visit Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Mackinac Island, Saugatuck, Traverse City, Leland or drive across the bridge. We love Faygo, Better Made potato chips, Vernors, Lions, Red Wings, Pistons and Tigers! We swim in lakes and camp. And we all call soda "POP"! 

Got me some new trainers and knickers

Today was a lovely day after such an exhausting week at work.  I worked at least 70 hours last week - maybe more?  Anyways - I was happy to turn in for some NON-WORK fun.  This led me to Winchester - which is south west of Guildford.  The train ride was just under an hour to get there - so pretty close.  I was recommended to go here by a co-worker and since I didn't have any other plans - why not?

The town was very similar to Guildford I felt.  Same size - maybe smaller and similar types of shops.  The first shop I went into is called BLACKS and it's sort of a similar store to Dick's sporting goods only WAY smaller.  they have outdoor gear etc.  I checked out their TRAINERS since I needed a pair.  They had an excellent sale going on and I got a pair of walking new balance trainers for 20 QUID!  I was very excited and cannot wait to wear them out tomorrow.  After my shopping - I already had 1 too many bags on my hand so I figured I better see the sights first and then carry on with shopping.  I went to this old ruins of a castle and then checked out the Cathedral!  The cathedral wasn't too much to look at from the outside, so of course once I stepped inside I was rather shocked by it's beauty!  I walked around there for about 30 minutes or so. Very nice!  After this and a little more walking around I headed back to Guildford and still had time to stop at the fruit market in town for some cheap eats for the week.

I went out for some fruit - dropped it off at home and then went back out to buy myself some knickers!  LOL.

Update on Future Trips!

Here is the new schedule

TRIPS 2011:
Jan 1 - 3rd - Grand Canyon, Utah, & Los Angeles, CA
Jan 14 - 17th - Denver, CO
Feb 26th - London
Feb 27th - Stonehenge & Salisburg, UK
March 5th - Brighton, UK
March 12th – Bath, UK
March 13th - Oxford & Blenheim Palace
March 18-20 - Oslo, Norway
March 25 & 26 - Stockholm, Sweden

April 2 & 3 – Palma de Mallorca, Spain

April 9 & 10 – HOME

April 13 & 14 – Milan, Italy
April 15 - 17th – Amsterdam, Netherlands (Tulips)
April 22 - May 3nd - Australia
May 2nd - Dubai, United Arab Emirates
May 6 & 7 - Dublin, Ireland
May 14 & 15 - Zurich, Switzerland
May 21 & 22 - Bologna, Italy
May 27 - 30 - Edinburgh, Scotland

Jun 4 – Portobello Rd. Market, London

Jun 5 – Guildford Shopping

Jun 10 – 12 – Prague, Czech Republic
Jun 17 - 19 - Copenhagen, Denmark

Jun 24 – 28 – Cinque Terre, Italy

Jul 2 – Leeds Castle, Canterbury, Dover

Jul 3 - London

Jul 9 & 10 – Paris, France (Liz & Sara Here)

Jul 16 & 17 – (Liz & Sara Here)

Jul 23 & 24 – Brussels & Gent, Belgium

Jul 30 – Cambridge & Camden Town

Aug 6 & 7 - Iceland

Aug 13 – York & Leeds

          Aug 20 – Bristol & Cardiff?

Aug 21 –

Aug 26 – 29 – Helsinki, Finland & St. Petersburg, Russia

Sep 3 & 4 – Megan Here (arrives on 1/9 – 11/9)

Sep 10 & 11 – Megan Here

Sep 17 & 18 – Gothenburg, Sweden

Sep 24 & 25 – Edinburgh, UK - Rachel Here (arrives on 23/9 – 3/10)

Oct 1 & 2 – Paris, France - (Rachel Here)

Oct 8 & 9 – Romania

Oct 15 & 16 – Moldova

Oct 22 & 23 – Ukraine

Oct 29 & 30 – Geneva, Switzerland

Nov 5 & 6 – Nice, France

Nov 7 – Photography Class (Mon 6-9pm)

Nov 12 & 13 – Lisbon, Portugal

Nov 19 & 20 – Rome, Italy

Nov 26 & 27 – Faro, Portugal / Seville, Spain

Dec 3 & 4 – Vienna, Austria

Dec 10 & 11 – Munich, Germany

Dec 17 & 18 - ??

Dec 24 & 25 – Michigan, USA (depart 20/12 - ??)

Leeds Market

Well after York I ventured to Leeds for a few hours.  There was nothing spectacular about this city however it did have an AMAZING market!  I love markets - and was so glad to stumble upon it since it was right next to the bus station!  Supposively it's the largest in the UK!  It was very massive, there was a large bit outside and then a space that was about 5 times the bit outside which was INSIDE!  I could belive it and I walked around for a few hours just staring and listening and people watching.  After noting all of the sweet deals on the produce and the fact that I had an empty fridge, I decided to buy myself a cute little trolley and fill it up with some produce!  YUMMY!  I had this one old lady comment and ask me where I bought my trolley because she wanted to get one just like it!  HAHA.  If i lived in Leeds, I would save so much money if I went to this market all of the time!  They had other things besides food too - which were also very good deals!  It was just nice to wander around

A Day in York!

Yesterday my travels took me to York!  A very cute British historic city.  I took the night bus up from London on Friday night and got to York in the wee morning hours.  It was still a little dark outside so luckily enough, the bus stop was right next to the train station so I was able to go in there for some shelter and took a little nap in the waiting room!  My neck was really sore after the cat nap!  Then I went to my favorite train station coffee place ''Upper Crust'' and to my surprise the coffee machine was broken - so I went from their little mini stand to there full restaurant and got a FREE coffee!  Ok lucky day now.

It was now about 630 so I wandered off into the the city and walked and walked and walked and waited and waited for the city to come ALIVE!  I got some good pictures though I must admit while there was nooone on the streets.  I went to York Minster Abbey first - of course my love for Churchs and Cathedrals.  I ended up walking all around and then came back around 9 and went inside and bought my ticket to climb the tower of almost 300 steps!  Before I did that though, I climbed the steps up to Cliffords Tower which was a look-out in the historic days over the York Castle!  After these two things - I was done with York and headed for the train station to LEEDS!  Here are some clips of York

Cliffords Tower

 Inside York Minister

 York Minister

 Inside Cliffords Tower

 View from top of Cliffords Tower

 York Abbey - Clear Blue Skies!

 Mid-Way through the climb to the top!

 On top of York Minister!  The breeze felt good

 To climb the wall surrounding the city!  Yes I also walked this

Icelandic Experience!

This past weekend I enjoyed Iceland!  Not a lot of people EVER go here so I felt really priveledged that I had this great opportunity!  The weather turned out great, the people were overly nice and the landscape and beauty of the country took me away!  I will definitely be coming back here and when I do I will rent a car and do more of the country!  The country was kind of like a mix between some other places that I have recently traveled:  YellowStone Nat'l Park and Alaska!  This country is definitely one of a kind and I suggest that everyone go here ASAP.

Gulfoss Falls

 Strokkur Geysir

 Sunset while attempt at Whale Watching

 Glacier Pools - Jökulsárlón

 Blue Lagoon