Sleep divorced me.

Sleep has left me for someone else, it's true. So now I dance with insomnia.

I decided that now, at 1.15am, would be the most suitable time to blog and finally post a few pictures from my wanderings in far and exotic/pretty/shady/skungy lands.

Gaudi's Casa de Batllo in Barcelona

 Barcelona - soooo many vespas on just about every street corner

 just waitin' for the bus... in the middle of a park....

 Parc de la Cuitadella

The world's laziest bee on my sister's foot.. wouldn't budge, not even for some nice pollen.

Dodgiest shop ever. My sister got sucked into purchasing a leather wallet (apparently genuine Morrocan leather) for 25 euros. I found pretty much the same for 3e. Sucks to be her.

Abundance of sweet deliceries (yes I made that word up) at the food market

Little audio cars for the tourists in Barcelona! How cool are these?!

Tyra with a street performer on La Rambla (like the main shopping street in Barca)

Flamenco!!! I recorded some too and when I figure out how to use this stupid macbook and rotate the video I'll post it.

Meet the cobbler shop

I can only think of one reason why you would need a sort of breast sleeve... and it's so sleazy.

The beautiful Montserrat, see that building? yeah try trekking the mountain for a Sunday service every week.

That stone house at the top of the cliff (I zoomed as much as I could) was where a hermit monk lived for 20 years, never came down and died there.

This is one of the doors of the Montserrat monastery. It has been there since 1025AD and survived Napolean's siege. How's that for strength?

The Black Madonna. You get to touch her hand on the left where they've left a hole in the glass.

This is how the flea market was in Barcelona. Pretty much sheets on the ground with people's junk on them. Btw, that market was so seedy, never going there again.

Okay so I just realised I have waaaay too many photos to try and post at once and there are more on the other camera so I'm going to stop here for tonight rather than blast myself into sleep deprivation delirium.. happily, sleep has come crawling back and I'm struggling to make sense right now.

Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, maybe Madame Trussard's and to finish tomorrow off a Gypsy and the Cat show. I will struggle.

Out at 2.35am.

xx

Paris

Because there's way too much for me to write if I start from the start and this poor little internet kiosk in my hotel with it's extremely slow internet connection might not be able to handle a large amount of love I'll just quickly say that right now I'm in Paris and the city is stunning. Also, I'm enjoying the attention I'm getting actually looking like a foreigner here. Didn't happen much in Barcelona. A couple of things though:

1. I had to make my own tea at McDonalds. There was my cup of hot water on a tray along with my tea bag. Sugar's on the counter. Bon apetit!

2. I ate snail last night!!! It was... chewy.. and rather tasteless if it didn't have the butter/garlic sauce on it.

3. Australian train systems you have a lot to learn from the European public transport systems.

4. WHY DOES EVERYONE RIDE A VESPA?! Where are the motorbikes?!

5. The movies don't even lie about France.

Until we meet again, love and sunshine xx

I have a rather large suitcase sitting on my bed begging to be filled (never mind the 23kg limit as my baggage allowance) but the one thing I need the most is nowhere to be found - where is my motivation? I have been looking forward to this trip for months! I wake up hours before my alarm is due to go off I'm that excited. Allegedly.

I blame He Who Must Not Be Named (my boss - I'd type his name but I know for a fact he Google's himself on a weekly basis).

DRAINER.

Ready for take-off

12 days! Eeek! My excitement is just kinda overwhelming right now, finally, FINALLY I'm venturing overseas to places far more exciting than the occasional cruise across the trans Tasman.. something I've wanted to do for so long and now it's only twelve miraculous-but-still-annoyingly-just-out-of-my-reach days away. It goes: Barcelona, Paris, London!

I think I'll lose my soul somewhere along the way...

While dad watched the footy full blast...

I was randomly cruising the internet, doing nothing in particular, just Googling it up and somehow I ended up browsing food art. Brilliant!

              

 

Summer storms and moon dancing.

Call me crazy but you know what I miss the most right this moment? Sitting in the middle of a summer storm at night. I love the rain and I love the adrenalin a storm gives me but I also love the warmth of a balmy breeze. The smell of rain mixed with the scent of watermelon juice running down my hands. 

I can picture it now, moon dancing in the summer rain... ahhhh perfect.

In love.

I've come to the realization that I am, in fact, in love. And no, it's not what you think. I'm in love with music... I find myself looking forward to train rides just so I can plug in my earphones for that half hour morning and evening music love making session, driving the long route home so I can have more time with my car stereo, becoming socially inept with my family because I'd rather sit in my room listening to my ipod than ramble to them. I take my ipod with me everywhere just in case there's a chance I can listen to it. It's got to the point where I'm losing sleep over it, no seriously, I try not to fall asleep until after I listen to that song, no wait, this one... stay.. awake.. one more....

I'm not even sure my stream of consciousness involves words anymore, just tunes and melodies.. and if there are words, they're not mine.

All signs of an addiction... is there a music addict anonymous group? But baby, if love is wrong then I don't want to be right.

Grandma Fridays

Once again it's a Friday night and I find myself having another one of those "grandma effort" nights. I could easily shack up in pj's, hot chocolate and dvd's or a good book. Give me a Doris Day movie marathon any time! A recurring thought lately? "I can't wait for retirement", and I'm only 21, the thought is both depressing and beautiful.

Clearly I'm being overworked. Time for a holiday :)
This calls me.

English language

Have you ever realized how alien the English language can sound sometimes? take a word, any word, strip it's meaning from it and then repeat it over and over, concentrating on the way it sounds and the way your mouth moves to produce it. Amazing. It turns into gobbledegook.

One of my favourite words to do this to is "flabbergast".. it's already an entertaining word and I use it whenever I can because it gives me a thrill but seriously, do it! flabbergast... flabbergast... flabbergast.. flaaaaaabeeeergassssst...

Rockstars and Ruby Red Lipstick

My brother is in town! just for a little bit.. do you think they remembered my birthday when he walked in at 12:01am 23rd of July?? no siree (sad face). He's lucky he brought an eventful first week of my life as 21.. wasn't just him though, some great friends (those pics not included though) and some great red lipstick my sister found.

Brunswick st, Vege bar with mama and papa on my birthday

TJ and Lionel

My sister and my niece (note the red lipstick)

(L to R) Breana, Johnny (drummer for Lily Allen and The Streets), Jocey, Lez and Lionel

At the Hi-fi with the Foals

....... ha. just kidding, wasn't mine.

Jocey, Sean (GATC's technician), Wayne (bassist/guitarist for The Streets and Lily Allen) @ Strange talk gig

Strange Talk (sorry about the blurriness guys, I don't know where the good quality shots are..)

Xav rockin' it at the Hi-fi.. Johnny looking like the Devil's child.

Fun was had by all.