Well to wrap up things in italy, what better place than venice? Venice is just beautiful. We booked 6 nights in generator hostel, which is just across the river from st.marks square. If you are a bit unsure as to which square that is, I always think of it as the one with all the pigeons. And yes, of course I fed them and got my picture taken. Afterwards I found out it is actually illegal to feed them, so I am pretty much a rebel... back to the hostel though. We booked 6 nights for the reason of our interail and eurail passes. Matt and I needed an address to have these passes sent to because there wasn't an option to get them at the station. We paid for 2 months of continuous rail travel throughout almost every european country. A bit pricey, but we hope it will be worth it. The good news was, mine arrived way sooner than planned. Matts came a day early as well. The bad news was, we were now stuck in venice. However, being stuck in venice really isn't that bad news afterall. We did all your typical touristy things, fed the pigeons, went on a gondola ride and visited some of the islands. There are 409 bridges in venice, according to our gondola man.. we probably crossed 50 over the 6 days. Our gondola ride was a little less than romantic because we shared it with four fellow travellers. Because we did this, we only had to pay €13 each. I am all for a good discount. The tour through the canals was very cool though, and an interesting look into how venice functions.
We stayed in a place called Generator hostel & it was probably the best facilities we have had so far. We booked a 7 share room, for 6 nights this cost us €100 each. When we arrived, we were put in a 5 share, which is always a bonus. They had separate sex bathrooms, with awesome hot showers. The living room of the hostel had a bar, menu for food and a photobooth. The hostel was on the right track for a great stay. Most hostels only allow 18-30 year olds, for the reason of everyone having the same interests, with a close enough budget. This hostel, was not the same. It completely missed the boat on the friendly atmosphere. It was far from welcoming and we found the staff to be rude. On our 2nd night, a group of 50+ French students all aged around 13 years old, showed up and just completely took over. What little friendly backpacker atmosphere there was, was ruined. There are signs at the entrance saying not to bring food or drink in, because they have a bar and menu. You wouldn't bring animals into a zoo. This is absolutely fair, and makes sense. However, when this march break field trip showed up, 50 of them opened up a packed lunch. The menu at the hostel was cheap compared to venice prices, however not cheap for a backpacker, and certainly not quality food. When I spoke to the receptionist, she was about as useful as chocolate teapot. (Matts description) The hostel was more about money making, then creating memories for each, individual traveller. For this reason, I would not recommend staying here. Matt and I really enjoyed venice overall, in fact it is probably my favorite place in italy. It is definitely worth a visit, just roll out the sleeping bag elsewhere.
We pretty much lived off of pasta from a place called alfredos. Matt and I ate here at least 8 different times over the six days. As you can probably imagine, venice isn't the cheapest place in the world. We came across alfredos on tripadvisor when myself and some of the girls we met were looking for a cheap place to eat or drink. Alfredos reviews were all fantastic. The one bad review we came across had an hilarious response from the owner, this was not an experience we wanted to miss. They had about 9 different pasta options, as well as 5 different noodles to pick from. My personal favorite was probably 'viagara' with a fusilli noodle. And yes, you did read that correctly. The customer service was unbelievable, and the pasta... to die for. So to sum up venice, I'd say a trip here isn't complete without a gondola ride, and some of alfredos pasta.
Now that we had our rail passes, we planned on heading down to Greece. The night before we were due to check out of venice, we found out that international trains to and from greece were on strike. Nothing like a strike to ruin your itinerary. We had to give up our day for Verona, to sort out a new plan. I will just have to wait until next time to touch Juliets right breast for good luck!
Our revised plan was Switzerland. Any plan of a budget, you would just want to throw that straight out the window. Unfortunately, tossing a budget away was not one of our options. We were torn between Geneva and Zurich. Zurich worked out to be cheaper, and closer to our next country. We booked for 2 nights in City Backpacker Hostel costing us a whopping €70..EACH! We had been robbed. This was the most expensive hostel we had paid for. To put it into perspective, you can get a private room in Portugal for €10 each. We paid €100 for 6 nights in venice... but zurich took €70 each and to top that off, we were in a 6 share. The train ride from italy to Switzerland was absolutely breathtaking. If you have a choice to fly or use the rails, I would recommend taking the train. Granted, it is a bit longer, but its absolutely stunning. On the train, I had already accepted that everything was going to be expensive, if we wanted to enjoy zurich we would need to just accept that and be smart about how we spend our time and money.
When we arrived at the hostel we walked up 4 flights of stairs to the check in desk where we recieved no information at all, except our keys. Most hostels when you check in, give you a map, show you some cheap restaurants and tell you what the must sees are in the area. We recieved nothing of the sort, and headed two floors up to our room. The room had 3 sets of bunks, and 6 small lockers, just enough for passports and electronics, the rest of our stuff was just left free in the room. The room had one plug socket, for 6 people to fight for. The wifi only worked in the reception area which had room for a maximum of 12 people. Our floor alone would have had 24 people amongst four rooms, sharing 2 showers and 2 toilets. There was four floors, and the main living area only had room for 12 people. Let me remind you, we paid €70 for this so called hostel. Oh and at three am I was woken up by what sounded like a hibernating bear snoring. Safe to say, I was happy to move onto the next hostel.
Zurich itself is so beautiful. Even prettier than venice. It is so rich and clean. The air is so fresh. Its worlds away from London, thats for sure. Since our budget was so tight, we opted for the free bike rental outside of the train station. We spent the day riding all over zurich. We went from the lakeside, to the main shopping strip, all the way to the redlight district. It was a beautiful day out and a great way to save the pennies. We went to sternen grill, which was in my lonely planet guidebook. It was a tad on the expensive side, but mine was definitely worth the 14 swiss francs. I had a schnitzel sandwhich. It was breaded veal with veggies, cocktail sauce and a fresh crunchy bun. Matt tried the currywurst which is sliced sausage with curry seasonings and tomato sauce. Zurich, although expensive was definitely a great day out and a culture very different to the others that we have experienced in europe so far. Next stop, berlin germany.
As I write this, I am now 11 hours into my travel day. We booked for the 9am train from zurich to basel. No problem, arrived in basel with 20 minutes to grab a pretzel and head to our platform. From basel we were now heading straight to berlin. About 40 minutes into our journey at the next station, a message was said that someone had jumped infront of a train 10km down the track and that we need to get off the now cancelled train. Long story short, we met a nice german lady trying to get home to berlin to tuck her kids in before bedtime. If anyone had a determination to get to berlin fast, it was a mother. We waited for 2 and a half hours at this station to get the next train heading north. We had to stop and change again, but at least now we are only a few hours away. About 2 hours ago we should have been sat in the hostel having a beer, but oh well. Shit happens. Alright, thats it for now. Next blog will have Berlin and possibly even Prague!
3/24/2014
Hung up the Redcoat & Put on the Backpack
Well it's safe to say, consistency is not one of my skills. It has been more or less a year & a half since my last post... sorry about that! The good news is, I am here now, with lots of stories for you. You, meaning friends, family and fellow backpackers. I should probably start at the end of my last chapter.
I finished off my two year working visa in February of this year. I was a Redcoat at Butlins, in Bognor Regis for the full two years. It was a really cool experience. I continued to grow within the job, and ended up being one of the main DJs. I stayed on for the adult break only period of the year, both years and DJd some pretty awesome nights. I stuck with the activities team, and met some amazing families through the kids clubs, particularly VIP, which was the teens. I was put in the Redcoat Game show, which I fell over on stage, was covered in cream pie and the girls ended up winning that night against the boys! I also became really good friends with a dinosaur named Ludo.. if you catch my drift. I have to say these were the highlights of my job.
If we put the job to the side for a minute, lets talk about the social. I celebrated my 19th birthday with a redneck theme, then topped it the following year, on my 20th with 'costumes starting with C'. I was a Canadian Flag, Matt was Captain America, and some other costumes were cave people, a candy cane, a care bear, etc. Around Halloween both years, I went to Thorpe Park with the entertainments team from Butlins to do all the haunted houses. Both years made for some great memories. Around Christmas 2013, a small handful of us spent the day in London, going to Winter Wonderland. It was amazing!! Winter Wonderland has lots of cute little bars, rides, shops and even a helter skelter. It was truly magical, one of my favorite days out in London. If you are ever in England in December, this is a must see for sure. Doesn't matter your age, as long as you believe in the magic of christmas. To end off the year, we had Gala. This is the big celebration with everyone that works at Butlins. They hand out awards, have someone famous to perform, then everyone gets drunk. Overall, always a great night!! The theme was the Great Gatsby, and the performer was Peter Andre, who definitely lip synced the whole performance, which is fine cause he is not the worlds best singer anyways! With loads of drinks vouchers as Matt and I were both leaving, we didn't have to spend a pence the whole night. The following night was the entertainment only party.This night wasn't as much fun, as it was a bit emotional saying goodbye to the good friends I had made whilst working on the resort. Overall, looking back on the two years, I feel that I grew up a significant amount in such a short time. I left Canada as a teen fresh out of high school, but I'll be coming home with a new outlook on life and the importance of family. Also, how lucky I am, that minimum wage in Canada isn't £4.13!!!
Now for the rest of Europe! To start, Matt and I moved into his parents house for the month of January. When we finished our contracts and parties, they came down with a van to load up our little appartment, then we drove home with his friend Chaz. It was a great month with lots of planning, pub days and clay pigeon shooting. February 3rd, just a few days before I had to legally be out of England, we headed to Ashford International. This is the train station that took us into Disneyland Paris. What better way to start 4 months of backpacking, then in Disney?! We stayed in the Santa Fe hotel for two nights, with three days of both park passes. The kid at heart was unleashed, and whether or not he will admit to it, Matt enjoyed Disney too! We both got our picture taken with Buzz Lightyear.. Yes thats right, THE Buzz Lightyear. He's kind of a big deal. I also took a picture with Captain Hook, Mr.Schmee, Tigger, eey ore, Stitch, Queen of Hearts, Pinoccio, Gipetto, Pluto, Goofy and the main man himself, Mickey. We watched all the parades and went on all the rides. My favorite would be a close draw between Buzz Lightyears & Finding Nemos. Both amazing, and more designed for kids, but I loved it. We watched the fireworks and show on the castle both nights as well.
On February 5th, we packed the bags, and took a train into Paris. We stayed at St.Christophers Inn Hostel, which was probably a bad idea, as it set the bar quite high for the rest of the hostels to live up to! It was so clean, and funky. Our bed was really comfortable and we got a private room to ourselves, so we didn't have that typical hostel experience just yet. We spent just one day in Paris as I had been there before, and Matt wasn't very interested in France. We did the typical tourist thing of going up the Eiffel Tower. We opted for the stairs, because the elevator had a really big cue, and the stairs were half the price. This now makes perfect sense to me why no one was lining up for the stairs. It was pissing down with rain and very windy that day. Walking up the Eiffel Tower was cold, and wet. If you've got the budget, take the lift. We took our touristy picture from the top, then walked back down, and headed back to the hostel for a hard earned pint of 'Frogs Bollocks', this was the beer on tap.
The following day we headed back to the train station, this time heading south to Lyon, France. Here lives quite a bit of my family. They are my second & third cousins, and my great aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, mine and Matts french when we arrived was very little, and my families english was the same. The first couple days was a bit of a nightmare when it came to the translation. By the end of it, they were speaking english, and I was speaking french, it was great! We stayed here for two weeks and they took us out on many different day trips, with alot of french cuisine in between it all. We went to a zoo on the outskirts of Lyon that is quite famous because of the gorilla named Digit. He lives in the owners house in his own little room. He also has a regular gorilla area with the other gorilla's but at night sleeps in the owners house. It had picturesque views everywhere and lots of beautiful animals. Because it was mid-february, they only people in the entire zoo were my family! It was like a private tour. During our stay it was my third cousins 14th birthday, so we went to that house for a meal. We tried fish cake.. this was basically a jello type dish which sets inside a cake mould with various fish inside. It sounds absolutely rank, however, with a bit of spicy mayo, tasted quite nice. We also tried 'fromage blanc' for the first time, which I fell in love with. Its a mix between cheese and yogurt, covered in sugar, jam or honey and its for dessert. Just beautiful. Of couse accompanied with every meal and course, is wine. Amazing, beautiful, delicious wine. The french have mastered cuisine. One of my cousins is a scuba diver, so he took us to his training pool where we got to try it. His friends taught myself and matt seperately. Matt has already been scuba diving, so he didn't really need to learn any of it, however for me, this was a first. I loved it. My coach didn't speak a word of english, and my french isn't strong enough to have done a whole lesson in underwater breathing, so we met in the middle with spanish. It was a really unique experience, and hopefully one day I will be able to do this in the sea. We spent a full day seeing the Lyon Basilica, roman ruins of an amphitheatre, and a movie museum, This same day we ate in a restaurant called Les Lyonnaise where we tried Fois Grois. Now if you don't already know what this is, don't google it, just try it first.. then you can ask what you've eaten. It is delicious though. Sylvie took us to a mining museum which was really interesting as well. There was so much that we did in France, we were sad to leave. As the two weeks came to a close, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Barcelona.
For some reason, we only booked one night in Barcelona, Spain which was very stupid of us. Barcelona is not a one nighter, it needs at least 3 days I'd say, so we will definitely be re-visiting one day. We stayed in Hostel One Sants, which was a fairly decent hostel. There was only about 15 people staying in the hostel that night, and what should have been a four share ended up just being a room for matt and I. We played Kings Cup that night with about 13 of our fellow roomies, and had lots of Sangria. The following day we went into Barcelona and wandered around a little bit, then headed to the zoo. For some reason, Matt and I always end up going to the zoo. It was quite a big zoo with a variety of animals, worth a visit. When we went to the Sagrada Familia, it was half under construction and had an enourmous cue. Unfortunately we were on a time crunch so we didn't get to go in, however it was beautiful from what we could see. We went to Park Guell and got to wander around for a little bit. The architecture and views of the city were stunning. Barcelona was a flying visit, and we were off to Madrid, Spain. Back to the airport we went!
Once in Madrid we headed to Flat5Madrid, our hostel for the couple of nights. This was so much better than a hostel, and we had a private room. So although we didn't have the hostel atmosphere, we had a very comfy bed and a hot shower, which was better! I lived in Madrid for 3 months when I was 16, so I turned into a mini tour guide for Matt. It was really nice being back in Madrid, and being able to show Matt that part of my life. During the couple days, Matt felt a bit sick, so we ended up just hanging out in Retiro park for quite a bit. We did manage to go to the San Miguel Market though and try out some beautiful tapas and sidra. Then it was time to head even further south, to Tenerife.
In Tenerife, we stayed with one of the guys we had met whilst working at Butlins. Turner hosted us for what ended up being three weeks. The majority of this consisted of breakfast at Legends Bar, some form of rugby down at Paddys Bar, and a whole lot of sangria and beach time! It was beautiful with hot weather almost everyday and black sandy beaches right on our door step. We did one day trip to Loro Parque. This is similar to Marineland and Seaworld, but with much better treatment of the animals. We saw quite a few whales, dolphins, sealions and birds. Tenerife was a lot of fun, but it was time to get back to the rest of europe.
We had a sleepover in London Gatwick, as that was the cheapest way to get out of Tenerife, and into Milan, Italy. Milan, in three words.. Do Not Go. This city is so dirty, and expensive. When you think fashion capital, this is the last city that should come to mind. There is nothing worth seeing here, massive waste of time. So lets move on. Another day, another airport, off to Rome now.
Rome is a weird one. It wasn't exactly what I had expected. Basically I think Rome is a big tourist trap. There are some truly fascinating things to see within Rome, for example the Colusseum, but because of how many tourists come each year, the prices in this city are extreme. We took a guided tour of the Colusseum which was really interesting, Tiberius really knew his stuff! We spent alot of the time just wandering the city, where we came across the Pantheon and saw a couple get engaged at the Trevi Fountain. We briefly passed the spanish steps as well. Whilst in Rome, for Matts birthday we went to see the Six Nations England vs Italy rugby match with one of Matts best mates from home, Feasey & his girlfriend, Lauri. It was really nice catching up with them for the weekend and having some drinks and meals too. England of course won that game and the atmosphere was phenomenal. Hearing upwards of 20,000 englishmen singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot, all together followed by a mexican wave, was a pretty cool Saturday afternoon. We spent a full day in the Vatican, which literally has too much artwork to comprehend. Without a tour guide I found all of it overwhelming and wasn't exactly sure on what I was looking at. When we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel, I couldn't even find the picture I was looking for!!!! That was really annoying, but looking back on it, kind of funny. A friend of mine, Michelle, lived in Rome a couple years ago and had some advice on things to do and see, so we followed that. We went to the best ice cream place in our lives. It's called Frigidarium. I had their own home made flavor and stracciatella, which I then had dipped in heated dark chocolate. It was unbelievable. Thanks Michelle, we owe you one! Lastly, our hostel. We stayed in Thousand Sunny Hostel. This was a little appartment where we shared a 4 share room with an ensuite washroom. This hostel was really clean with some awesome staff and an adorable dog named Zoro. He was bad ass. Our next stop, Naples.
We took a high speed train from Rome to Naples and by accident booked business class. This is an awesome accident. For the first and probably last time on this trip, I felt rich! It was the first class of trains, we loved it. We almost didn't come to Naples because of how dangerous everyone said that it was, however after already paying for the train and hostel, we couldn't justify not coming. So we gave it a shot. Upon arriving at the train station we took the sketchiest taxi ride of our lives. We were dropped off a good distance from the hostel at close to 11pm, when we heard this little old man shout down from the balcony that he was Giovanni. So up the stairs we went to Giovannis Home. This was the best hostel we had stayed in so far. We had free dinner almost every night, even lunch on some days. We booked an 8 share room, which he ended up giving to just us for the whole 4 nights so we could have some privacy, that was really nice. The atmosphere was great and we made some good travelling friends, Devon & Emma. We went around the central area of Naples and did the underground tunnels as well which were interesting. We spent a full day seeing Erculano, and Pompeii which was bigger than I thought. Of course, we climbed to the top of Mount Vesuvious, THAT is what I call a hike. Naples was awesome, but I would only recommend going here if you stay with Giovanni as he made us feel like we were in a home away from home with the best advice possible.
Now to bring us up to date. Venice. We flew from Naples into Venice, which is where we are right now. Venice is so surreal. Its hard to describe, my advice, come and see it for yourself. We ended up meeting up with Devon and Emma as they were spending the weekend in Generator Hostel as well. We met another canadian called MC who is studying in France, and we hung out with them for the weekend. Together we went to Murano and Burano, two of Venices islands which are famous for their blown glass and lace work. Each house is a different bright colour, it looks like a cartoon. One of the prettiest places I have ever been. We also did the typical tourist trip of a Gondola Ride. This was awesome, 80 euros for 6 people to split, so it worked out to be quite cheap. We have eaten at Alfredo's alot, which is one of the best pasta places i've ever been to! We have 3 more nights here in Venice, then we are off to Greece!
Sorry this post was so long, but at least you know what kind of shenanigans I've been up to for the past two years!
I finished off my two year working visa in February of this year. I was a Redcoat at Butlins, in Bognor Regis for the full two years. It was a really cool experience. I continued to grow within the job, and ended up being one of the main DJs. I stayed on for the adult break only period of the year, both years and DJd some pretty awesome nights. I stuck with the activities team, and met some amazing families through the kids clubs, particularly VIP, which was the teens. I was put in the Redcoat Game show, which I fell over on stage, was covered in cream pie and the girls ended up winning that night against the boys! I also became really good friends with a dinosaur named Ludo.. if you catch my drift. I have to say these were the highlights of my job.
If we put the job to the side for a minute, lets talk about the social. I celebrated my 19th birthday with a redneck theme, then topped it the following year, on my 20th with 'costumes starting with C'. I was a Canadian Flag, Matt was Captain America, and some other costumes were cave people, a candy cane, a care bear, etc. Around Halloween both years, I went to Thorpe Park with the entertainments team from Butlins to do all the haunted houses. Both years made for some great memories. Around Christmas 2013, a small handful of us spent the day in London, going to Winter Wonderland. It was amazing!! Winter Wonderland has lots of cute little bars, rides, shops and even a helter skelter. It was truly magical, one of my favorite days out in London. If you are ever in England in December, this is a must see for sure. Doesn't matter your age, as long as you believe in the magic of christmas. To end off the year, we had Gala. This is the big celebration with everyone that works at Butlins. They hand out awards, have someone famous to perform, then everyone gets drunk. Overall, always a great night!! The theme was the Great Gatsby, and the performer was Peter Andre, who definitely lip synced the whole performance, which is fine cause he is not the worlds best singer anyways! With loads of drinks vouchers as Matt and I were both leaving, we didn't have to spend a pence the whole night. The following night was the entertainment only party.This night wasn't as much fun, as it was a bit emotional saying goodbye to the good friends I had made whilst working on the resort. Overall, looking back on the two years, I feel that I grew up a significant amount in such a short time. I left Canada as a teen fresh out of high school, but I'll be coming home with a new outlook on life and the importance of family. Also, how lucky I am, that minimum wage in Canada isn't £4.13!!!
Now for the rest of Europe! To start, Matt and I moved into his parents house for the month of January. When we finished our contracts and parties, they came down with a van to load up our little appartment, then we drove home with his friend Chaz. It was a great month with lots of planning, pub days and clay pigeon shooting. February 3rd, just a few days before I had to legally be out of England, we headed to Ashford International. This is the train station that took us into Disneyland Paris. What better way to start 4 months of backpacking, then in Disney?! We stayed in the Santa Fe hotel for two nights, with three days of both park passes. The kid at heart was unleashed, and whether or not he will admit to it, Matt enjoyed Disney too! We both got our picture taken with Buzz Lightyear.. Yes thats right, THE Buzz Lightyear. He's kind of a big deal. I also took a picture with Captain Hook, Mr.Schmee, Tigger, eey ore, Stitch, Queen of Hearts, Pinoccio, Gipetto, Pluto, Goofy and the main man himself, Mickey. We watched all the parades and went on all the rides. My favorite would be a close draw between Buzz Lightyears & Finding Nemos. Both amazing, and more designed for kids, but I loved it. We watched the fireworks and show on the castle both nights as well.
On February 5th, we packed the bags, and took a train into Paris. We stayed at St.Christophers Inn Hostel, which was probably a bad idea, as it set the bar quite high for the rest of the hostels to live up to! It was so clean, and funky. Our bed was really comfortable and we got a private room to ourselves, so we didn't have that typical hostel experience just yet. We spent just one day in Paris as I had been there before, and Matt wasn't very interested in France. We did the typical tourist thing of going up the Eiffel Tower. We opted for the stairs, because the elevator had a really big cue, and the stairs were half the price. This now makes perfect sense to me why no one was lining up for the stairs. It was pissing down with rain and very windy that day. Walking up the Eiffel Tower was cold, and wet. If you've got the budget, take the lift. We took our touristy picture from the top, then walked back down, and headed back to the hostel for a hard earned pint of 'Frogs Bollocks', this was the beer on tap.
The following day we headed back to the train station, this time heading south to Lyon, France. Here lives quite a bit of my family. They are my second & third cousins, and my great aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, mine and Matts french when we arrived was very little, and my families english was the same. The first couple days was a bit of a nightmare when it came to the translation. By the end of it, they were speaking english, and I was speaking french, it was great! We stayed here for two weeks and they took us out on many different day trips, with alot of french cuisine in between it all. We went to a zoo on the outskirts of Lyon that is quite famous because of the gorilla named Digit. He lives in the owners house in his own little room. He also has a regular gorilla area with the other gorilla's but at night sleeps in the owners house. It had picturesque views everywhere and lots of beautiful animals. Because it was mid-february, they only people in the entire zoo were my family! It was like a private tour. During our stay it was my third cousins 14th birthday, so we went to that house for a meal. We tried fish cake.. this was basically a jello type dish which sets inside a cake mould with various fish inside. It sounds absolutely rank, however, with a bit of spicy mayo, tasted quite nice. We also tried 'fromage blanc' for the first time, which I fell in love with. Its a mix between cheese and yogurt, covered in sugar, jam or honey and its for dessert. Just beautiful. Of couse accompanied with every meal and course, is wine. Amazing, beautiful, delicious wine. The french have mastered cuisine. One of my cousins is a scuba diver, so he took us to his training pool where we got to try it. His friends taught myself and matt seperately. Matt has already been scuba diving, so he didn't really need to learn any of it, however for me, this was a first. I loved it. My coach didn't speak a word of english, and my french isn't strong enough to have done a whole lesson in underwater breathing, so we met in the middle with spanish. It was a really unique experience, and hopefully one day I will be able to do this in the sea. We spent a full day seeing the Lyon Basilica, roman ruins of an amphitheatre, and a movie museum, This same day we ate in a restaurant called Les Lyonnaise where we tried Fois Grois. Now if you don't already know what this is, don't google it, just try it first.. then you can ask what you've eaten. It is delicious though. Sylvie took us to a mining museum which was really interesting as well. There was so much that we did in France, we were sad to leave. As the two weeks came to a close, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Barcelona.
For some reason, we only booked one night in Barcelona, Spain which was very stupid of us. Barcelona is not a one nighter, it needs at least 3 days I'd say, so we will definitely be re-visiting one day. We stayed in Hostel One Sants, which was a fairly decent hostel. There was only about 15 people staying in the hostel that night, and what should have been a four share ended up just being a room for matt and I. We played Kings Cup that night with about 13 of our fellow roomies, and had lots of Sangria. The following day we went into Barcelona and wandered around a little bit, then headed to the zoo. For some reason, Matt and I always end up going to the zoo. It was quite a big zoo with a variety of animals, worth a visit. When we went to the Sagrada Familia, it was half under construction and had an enourmous cue. Unfortunately we were on a time crunch so we didn't get to go in, however it was beautiful from what we could see. We went to Park Guell and got to wander around for a little bit. The architecture and views of the city were stunning. Barcelona was a flying visit, and we were off to Madrid, Spain. Back to the airport we went!
Once in Madrid we headed to Flat5Madrid, our hostel for the couple of nights. This was so much better than a hostel, and we had a private room. So although we didn't have the hostel atmosphere, we had a very comfy bed and a hot shower, which was better! I lived in Madrid for 3 months when I was 16, so I turned into a mini tour guide for Matt. It was really nice being back in Madrid, and being able to show Matt that part of my life. During the couple days, Matt felt a bit sick, so we ended up just hanging out in Retiro park for quite a bit. We did manage to go to the San Miguel Market though and try out some beautiful tapas and sidra. Then it was time to head even further south, to Tenerife.
In Tenerife, we stayed with one of the guys we had met whilst working at Butlins. Turner hosted us for what ended up being three weeks. The majority of this consisted of breakfast at Legends Bar, some form of rugby down at Paddys Bar, and a whole lot of sangria and beach time! It was beautiful with hot weather almost everyday and black sandy beaches right on our door step. We did one day trip to Loro Parque. This is similar to Marineland and Seaworld, but with much better treatment of the animals. We saw quite a few whales, dolphins, sealions and birds. Tenerife was a lot of fun, but it was time to get back to the rest of europe.
We had a sleepover in London Gatwick, as that was the cheapest way to get out of Tenerife, and into Milan, Italy. Milan, in three words.. Do Not Go. This city is so dirty, and expensive. When you think fashion capital, this is the last city that should come to mind. There is nothing worth seeing here, massive waste of time. So lets move on. Another day, another airport, off to Rome now.
Rome is a weird one. It wasn't exactly what I had expected. Basically I think Rome is a big tourist trap. There are some truly fascinating things to see within Rome, for example the Colusseum, but because of how many tourists come each year, the prices in this city are extreme. We took a guided tour of the Colusseum which was really interesting, Tiberius really knew his stuff! We spent alot of the time just wandering the city, where we came across the Pantheon and saw a couple get engaged at the Trevi Fountain. We briefly passed the spanish steps as well. Whilst in Rome, for Matts birthday we went to see the Six Nations England vs Italy rugby match with one of Matts best mates from home, Feasey & his girlfriend, Lauri. It was really nice catching up with them for the weekend and having some drinks and meals too. England of course won that game and the atmosphere was phenomenal. Hearing upwards of 20,000 englishmen singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot, all together followed by a mexican wave, was a pretty cool Saturday afternoon. We spent a full day in the Vatican, which literally has too much artwork to comprehend. Without a tour guide I found all of it overwhelming and wasn't exactly sure on what I was looking at. When we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel, I couldn't even find the picture I was looking for!!!! That was really annoying, but looking back on it, kind of funny. A friend of mine, Michelle, lived in Rome a couple years ago and had some advice on things to do and see, so we followed that. We went to the best ice cream place in our lives. It's called Frigidarium. I had their own home made flavor and stracciatella, which I then had dipped in heated dark chocolate. It was unbelievable. Thanks Michelle, we owe you one! Lastly, our hostel. We stayed in Thousand Sunny Hostel. This was a little appartment where we shared a 4 share room with an ensuite washroom. This hostel was really clean with some awesome staff and an adorable dog named Zoro. He was bad ass. Our next stop, Naples.
We took a high speed train from Rome to Naples and by accident booked business class. This is an awesome accident. For the first and probably last time on this trip, I felt rich! It was the first class of trains, we loved it. We almost didn't come to Naples because of how dangerous everyone said that it was, however after already paying for the train and hostel, we couldn't justify not coming. So we gave it a shot. Upon arriving at the train station we took the sketchiest taxi ride of our lives. We were dropped off a good distance from the hostel at close to 11pm, when we heard this little old man shout down from the balcony that he was Giovanni. So up the stairs we went to Giovannis Home. This was the best hostel we had stayed in so far. We had free dinner almost every night, even lunch on some days. We booked an 8 share room, which he ended up giving to just us for the whole 4 nights so we could have some privacy, that was really nice. The atmosphere was great and we made some good travelling friends, Devon & Emma. We went around the central area of Naples and did the underground tunnels as well which were interesting. We spent a full day seeing Erculano, and Pompeii which was bigger than I thought. Of course, we climbed to the top of Mount Vesuvious, THAT is what I call a hike. Naples was awesome, but I would only recommend going here if you stay with Giovanni as he made us feel like we were in a home away from home with the best advice possible.
Now to bring us up to date. Venice. We flew from Naples into Venice, which is where we are right now. Venice is so surreal. Its hard to describe, my advice, come and see it for yourself. We ended up meeting up with Devon and Emma as they were spending the weekend in Generator Hostel as well. We met another canadian called MC who is studying in France, and we hung out with them for the weekend. Together we went to Murano and Burano, two of Venices islands which are famous for their blown glass and lace work. Each house is a different bright colour, it looks like a cartoon. One of the prettiest places I have ever been. We also did the typical tourist trip of a Gondola Ride. This was awesome, 80 euros for 6 people to split, so it worked out to be quite cheap. We have eaten at Alfredo's alot, which is one of the best pasta places i've ever been to! We have 3 more nights here in Venice, then we are off to Greece!
Sorry this post was so long, but at least you know what kind of shenanigans I've been up to for the past two years!
So until next time, lots of love,
Carlie xoxox
10/10/2012
Pumpkin Donuts and Country Music
Its just past 8pm at night, and i'm sitting in my little Butlins accomodation waiting for work in a couple hours. Its a fairly chilly night, and smells a bit like fall outside.. I've been thinking about home, and how I missed Thanksgiving, and will be missing mom and dads birthdays this month. It makes me sad, knowing I won't be driving around in my jeep watching the beautiful leaves change colour, listening to country music and having all of the october Tim Hortons goodies. There will be no trick or treating, decorating the house with all of moms halloween stuff or bobbing for apples. No hot tub or bonfire nights with friends. No home made apple fritters, or mom dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood. For some reason, this time of year just makes me think about how much has changed in my life in less than a year. I can't believe I've made it all the way here by myself and held one of the coolest jobs in all of England, a Redcoat. In less than a year, i've became a DJ for adult weekends, and family venues as well, i've met thousands of families and help create family memories. I've been to London countless times, seen a castle or two and explored the local areas. But whats next? Well with November just around the corner, our contracts are nearing the end. November is all adult weekends and only about 7 Reds are kept on to work them, as we aren't needed as much. The work we do over adult weekends are main gate, check in, selling VIP wristbands, Bingo, Karoke, working doors of headphone party, and lastly, my favorite, DJing. I really hope I get kept on over November so I can continue DJing as i've DJd almost every night of every adult break since summer finished. If i'm not kept on, im not 100% sure what I will do, as I don't really have the option to go home. We are aloud to live on site for free, so I'll maybe just travel a bit. Fingers crossed they keep me though.
I'm always doing new things at work, the past couple of weeks there have been some adult weekends and not overly busy family midweeks. I had halloween training and we were taught how to make slime, mine was purple, very cool. We made little spell books to make with the kids, and lastly, were somewhat taught how to carve pumpkins. This was weird for me, because i've been carving pumpkins for as long as I can remember, every year with my family. Halloween just isn't as big over here as it is in Canada. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year.. haunted houses, horror movies, bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins, trick or treating, dressing up.. its magical. I can't wait to get closer to the time and see all of the kids really get into the spirit! Last night I DJ'd center stage all by myself which went a lot better then i thought it would, so i'm really proud of myself. Center Stage is our biggest venue at Butlins and has all of our big shows, like the Michael Jackson tributes, Glee, Big Red Beach Party, Story of Soul, Lazytown and tons of other stuff. Definitely a really cool opportunity to DJ such an important venue on resort. I also DJd the headphone party on this past adult break with Bird, it was a really good time, and we went out after. It was a really good night DJing and a quality night out with the team! This Friday we have another team building day and we are all going to Thorpe park, its an amusement park and for anyone thats seen the show the inbetweeners its on that. I hope to god it doesn't rain as thats all that happens in England. Apparently itll be cold that day but it shouldn't rain.. fingers crossed.
Matt and I have booked off some time in November to go on holiday but its the biggest pain in the ass to actually book one and match up flights and everything. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have something, or we might just book one last minute. In January, we will both be coming back home for two weeks. I can't wait for him to meet everyone, see the Falls and get to know where i'm from. He makes me so happy, and it'll just be the icing on the cake for him to come home. It will be strange being away from home for my birthday and christmas, but I will be with Matt, which will make it a bit easier. Today i'm missing home a bit. It was hard being away for Thanksgiving as we always have the family get together in October for that and all the birthdays. I've missed so many country concerts, especially the ones that I always go to with my Dad. Listening to country here, I just get hassled and the room mates think its crap. I just don't care though, I love it, and it reminds me of home. I'm trying to turn Matt into a country boy, slowly but surely, itll happen! Living here is the coolest thing, to think at 18, i've moved away from home, and not once called asking for money. I feel like i've grown up so much over the past couple of months. Although most of my friends back home are in University and college, I feel like i'm having more of a true life experience. So while everyone back home is studying for midterms coming up shortly, I'll just be in Bognor DJing and running around a dancefloor with kids, watching a Michael Jackson tribute. I'm so blessed and lucky to be living the life I live. Although I missed Thanksgiving this year, I am so thankful for my loving family, amazing friends both canadian and british, the best boyfriend anyone could ask for, the most unique life experience job, and a healthy, happy state of mind. As much as I miss my jeep, Tim Hortons, family, country music and believe it or not, Port Colborne.. I know that this is one of the best experiences i'm going to have in my life, and when it comes to an end, ill just be wishing to come back. I'm living the dream, and just waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up.. until then, I'll just be on this side of the pond...
Your country girl,
Maple xo
9/06/2012
End of Peak!
Alrighty, I think I have kept everyone back home waiting long enough. What have I been up to for the past couple months? Well to start off from where I left off on my last blog, It was Josh's birthday. For his birthday we all got a little mini bus to take us to another city near by. There was quite a few of the entertainment team together, as well as some old redcoats for last year I think. It was really cool meeting some of the other team and talking about their experiences and what is different now. When we got to Portsmouth, we went straight to the casino. Keeping in mind this was my first ever legal casino experience, I was really excited. We were in there for an hour or so probably and I was loving the roulette table, eventually moving onto Black Jack, as those are pretty much the only games I fully knew how to play. I walked away up 130 pounds. It was fantastic! Everyone else lost, or was only up about 20 quid. I was quite proud of myself. Then we headed to a club called Tiger Tiger, I started to get a bit of a headache, only had a couple drinks. This club was two floors and had tons of different rooms with different themes. One of the rooms was oldschool dance music, with a light up dancefloor, another room was all uptodate club RnB, the club itself was actually pretty cool. I believe it was around two in the morning that we all gathered up and headed to get a kebab. This is pretty standard on a night out. While waiting in line, Ellen kept telling everyone else that I was "just jet legged"... i've been in England for months now.. I'm no longer jet legged. It was pretty funny. We all got our food, then got back on the bus and made our way back to the bubble. It was a really good night out, haven't had a night like that in a while!
The adult weekend was Disco Inferno, and I DJd the headphone party. It was amazing!! That was my first adult break DJing, and it was absolutely unreal. That same weekend was a team building weekend. Everyone went to the park just outside of the resort and we had a bit of a sports day, as well as a picnic, it was a really good, chilled out day to get to know the team better, and not worry about work. With just a few weeks left before going into peak, which is the six weeks of summer that the kids are out of school and Butlins is at its busiest time, I went to Kent to meet Matts family. I went from the Monday to the Friday, and was quite nervous to go and meet them. To me it felt like quite a big step, but was excited. When we got there, I met his step dad first, who was really friendly, then went back to his beautiful house to meet his mom and brothers. And of course, Benson and Chica, his dogs. Everyone was really nice and welcoming, and his house was very 'homie'. It was a really good week away from the bubble and the first time i've felt at home since i've been in England. We went out for a couple meals, spent the day at Dover Castle, and then a day out shopping as well. Dover Castle is ontop of a huge hill over looking the water,with gorgeous views from the castle and a very interesting history behind the castle walls. We took quite a few pictures whilst walking the castle grounds too. I bought the best strawberry wine i've ever had... Since then i've been trying to find something close to it, so if anyone knows of any good strawberry wine, let me know!! We took the train back to the bubble and then it was time for peak to start.
The adult weekend was Disco Inferno, and I DJd the headphone party. It was amazing!! That was my first adult break DJing, and it was absolutely unreal. That same weekend was a team building weekend. Everyone went to the park just outside of the resort and we had a bit of a sports day, as well as a picnic, it was a really good, chilled out day to get to know the team better, and not worry about work. With just a few weeks left before going into peak, which is the six weeks of summer that the kids are out of school and Butlins is at its busiest time, I went to Kent to meet Matts family. I went from the Monday to the Friday, and was quite nervous to go and meet them. To me it felt like quite a big step, but was excited. When we got there, I met his step dad first, who was really friendly, then went back to his beautiful house to meet his mom and brothers. And of course, Benson and Chica, his dogs. Everyone was really nice and welcoming, and his house was very 'homie'. It was a really good week away from the bubble and the first time i've felt at home since i've been in England. We went out for a couple meals, spent the day at Dover Castle, and then a day out shopping as well. Dover Castle is ontop of a huge hill over looking the water,with gorgeous views from the castle and a very interesting history behind the castle walls. We took quite a few pictures whilst walking the castle grounds too. I bought the best strawberry wine i've ever had... Since then i've been trying to find something close to it, so if anyone knows of any good strawberry wine, let me know!! We took the train back to the bubble and then it was time for peak to start.
Peak started on July 19th, and our work schedule was sort of a 'Week A & B'.. Most of my summer consisted of Teen activities, cheerleading for wrestling, teaching Fencing, assisting animal adventures, bingo and my favourite, DJing. Theres been no adult weekends for me to DJ, but I've been DJing the late night venues about three to four times a week, which has been really cool. I've expanded my genres and music knowledge tons! I've still not played any country, other than 5,6,7,8 by Steps and Cotten Eyed Joe, as thats the most i'm aloud.. I guess ill have to wait til I ever get a chance to DJ in Canada for some country music! During Cheerleading, there have been some Canadians that have come over to do wrestling, its nice to be able to speak to someone that sounds the same as me, and talk about places that we've both been. I do love a good old canadian accent. Theres been some really nice americans here as well... Although everyone thinks I hate americans, I don't. I have no issues with Americans, I'm just not one. I'm proud to be Canadian, so please refrain from asking me what state i'm from or calling me a Yank. To be fair, most team on resort know that I'm Canadian as my nickname is Canada and Maple. Maple is mainly just a Matt thing, majority of others just call me Canada. Including guests and children. Chloe my old room mate has moved back in, and likes calling me a Yank all the time. Not to worry, as she is from Liverpool, I even the score by calling her a Manc (a person from Manchester), she finds that offensive, I think its hilarious. What isn't funny, is when we are out together and Matt calls us the Manc and the Yank... Not cute! I can teach up to 120 kids fencing every week, as there are one club Red (9-12) session on a weekend, and a midweek, and one VIP (13-17) on a weekend and a midweek. Fencing is more fun than you'd think, if you ever get the opportunity to learn, take it! Bingo has made me more confident on a microphone. Since the last time we spoke, I had just done Bingo for the first time, and I was sworn at by a group of old women on a hen party. Things have improved! I've not been cursed at, and everyone has been really nice, my accent is generally liked by most guests I think, and i've had a lot of feedback. I also do the introductions on the mic for animal adventures and kids like hearing a different voice. As i've been improving, I was put in to DJ a family venue. That was very challenging for me, and it didn't go off very well the first time. My big hearted team had a bit of a break in the value chain, and weren't very supportive, making my night even more challenging and stressful, however, my redcoat team was very supportive and quite a few came in and made sure I was okay, as well as assissting the show and venue. I've done a family venue twice now, and knowing where I needed to improve, made my second time so much better! It went off with only a few technical issues, completely out of my control, and the rest of the night was really good. Good music, good shows, good redcoats, made for a good evening. That venue isn't open when we are out of peak, so I can't imagine myself doing family venues for a while now anyways! Phew. Near the end of peak, my parents came over to see me for the week! It was really nice, as I hadn't seen them in quite a few months, and was getting caught up in all the bubble drama, as well as being quite negative. Seeing them kind of grounded me again, and reminded me why i'm hear and what my goals are. Since they've going home, i've turned things around, I'm feeling more positive then ever, and looking forward to new challenges coming my way. While they were down, we went to Arundel castle, no surprise there as my dad loves going to castles. Went out for a couple meals, saw the 'Big Red Beach Party' Redcoat show of 2012, and did a couple other things. They met Matt which I know he was nervous about, but it went really well. They loved him, and he ended up spending quite a bit of time with them while I was at work. They got to see me DJ Jaks at night which was really cool. I think I needed to see them as I was somewhat homesick, but I just needed a hug and a bit of advice.. more importantly a kick in the ass to remind me why i'm here. They've gone home now, and I will hopefully see them again in January when I go back to Canada. Fingers crossed, thats the plan. Then I'm hoping to come back to England for another year, as my visa will run out February 2014.
The past six weeks have been busy with a full resort of over 5000 people every week. It had its ups and downs, challenges and tons of new experiences. I've met so many people of all ages, become quite close with some people on my team and learned a lot about myself. I've eased up on my drinking aswell, believe it or not!! My first few months were quite the alcoholic binge, but don't get me wrong, had the time of my life.. Now since being with Matt, i've managed to save up a bit of money to go on holiday with at the end of the year hopefully. Gemma, the Red that I was really close with at the beginning, as moved on to a new experience in her life, and was quite sad to see her go. Its crazy how in such a small amount of time you become so close to the people around you, people that just a few months ago would have been complete strangers, now some I know when I come back to England in the years to come, I'll meet up with, and it'll be like I never left. After leaving home, i've drifted massively with most of my friends, and I'm not all that sad about it. As you grow up and move on to new experiences, you lose really close friends, but you gain new ones, and over a good amount of time, you'll have a small handful of really close friends that no matter what, will be there for you. I've got an amazing and supportive family, a hilarious group of good friends back home, as well as a couple for life that i'm working with right now. Not to forget Matt, who has been there for my good and bad days, cheering me up no matter what for the past 5 months. I'm very lucky to be able to be in another country living out my dreams. So to everyone back home, I'm happy, healthy, and am continously looking forward to my newest adventure. I promise to stay ontop of my blogs more often, as there was quite a big gap between this and the last! Ill speak to you sooner rather than later...
Lots of love,
Maple xo
Maple xo
5/22/2012
Leicester Square
This past adult weekend I started my shift on Gold Reception. This is for returning guests or upgraded ones i'm pretty sure. It has never been busy when i've worked here before but it was myself, another red and someone from guest services. So the three of us just spent the two hours checking people into their accoms and talking about the bubble, boyfriends, the usual stuff. It started raining a bit, and I had to work main gate. I love working main gate because of the team there. Its resort safety and Reds on check in days and its a lot of fun. Apart from the fact that bus loads of 30 already drunk men are hitting on you and making disgusting actions through the window. Its probably my favorite detail on adult breaks. Later that night I worked the silent disco, headphone party. Its usually lots of fun but by the end of it I was just tired and a bit fed up. The people on resort are all piss drunk by about 10pm, and the disco starts shortly after. I don't think anyone in there is ever sober actually, except for the team working. When I walked through to pick up extra headphones, one of the guys grabbed my butt. I turned around and told him to not touch me. I was clearly not kidding and he clearly didn't care. Once I turned around to walk away, he grabbed me again. This time I went straight to the doors where the contractors work. The contractors are a ton of resort safety that are brought in just for the adult breaks as we don't have a big enough team. He told me that he had to warn the guy first and that he couldn't just kick him out. I found that frustrating because I don't think its right for men to come onto resort and harass team just because they are drunk. But that is the nature of these weekends sometimes.
Saturday I worked Bingo. Bingo in England is different from Canada though. The bingo cards here are just numbers and they play for full house (all the numbers) not lines or squares like back home. I have yet to be on a microphone since being here as i'm somewhat nervous about my accent and how it will be taken. I get called American constantly and have to repeat myself at times. I went on the mic during Bingo and a table of about 20 women were just really rude. For no reason, they weren't drunk, and didn't need to be, but were anyways. Its bad enough when the men hit on and harass you, but its just plain annoying when the women are rude too. I just smiled anyways and let it go, as I can't really do much else. I worked this detail with Tiffany which was good, and then we both did karoke later that night. This was a first as well. Everyone that sang was drunk and it was pretty funny. The venue it was in wasn't busy at all, but that's probably because the Chelsea football game was on, and Brits love football like fat kids love cake. It was a good time and finished early as well which was nice. There was a huge hen party and three of the woman were dressed up in the outfits at the very end of Mamma Mia, during the credits. They sang super trouper and danced the routine as well. Anytime I hear Abba it instantly reminds me of Dad. He would have loved it! Once it finished, I went out for a few drinks with the team and ended up in Burger King at the end of it, clear signs of a good night.
Sunday and Monday I had off with Matt. So we went to London. We didn't really have any set plans of what we wanted to do, just time out of the bubble together. He worked midnight until eight in the morning, had a quick nap, and then we went to the train station. We got to london around four or five o clock and then walked around until we found a hotel. We stayed at the Premier Inn which are apparently everywhere in England, British version of Best Western. It had only been open six days and was in the center of Leicester Square. It was perfect. The room was purple and white and everything was fresh and clean. The location couldn't have been any better, one tube stop away from covent gardens, right next to the cinema and tons of restaurants. We dropped our bag off at the hotel, then headed off to walk around a bit. We had dinner at Bella Italia and it was delicious. Little garlic breads, then spicy shrimp pasta. With, of course, wine. It was perfect. After a bit more walking around, and through covent garden where there was a man playing his guitar on a cobble stone road with a crowd gathered. It couldn't have been any better. We ended the night watching American Pie the Reunion which was hilarious! Then went back to the hotel after a long day. The next morning we did a bit of shopping, walked all over the place, past Buckingham Palace and stopped in St. James Park for a bit. I'm from a small town in Canada but I love the big city lifestyle, not to forget that I'm a country girl too though. Matt doesn't enjoy being in downtown London for long periods of time, so we went to the park so he could relax a bit, as the whole weekend had been mainly about me, he deserved some time too. When we were walking around, we found this store that sold only Australian, New Zealand and Canadian things! It was amazing. It had fruit loops; maple syrup; tootsie rolls; quaker oats oatmeal; french vanilla timmies; so many things! Matt got me a box of Dad's Cookies, and got himself a tootsie roll as I wouldn't share with him the last one that I had sent to me from Canada. Just a few spots over from the store, was a pub called the Maple Leaf. Unfortunately it was under construction, im hoping to have Canada Day off though, so I can go back for it! How cool would that be?! In this same block was T.G.I.Fridays. Matt has never been so thats where we went for lunch. I had too massive Bahama Mama's, they were unbelievable, and a chicken salad which was delicious. Matt ordered a burger because it "challenged" him. The menu read something along the lines of "Can you handle it?" and of course he felt the need to then be manly and accept. Regardless, I think he enjoyed it. After this we did a bit more wandering, then made our way to Victoria Station to head home. I fell asleep on the train back, and had an early night once home in the bubble. It was an absolutely amazing weekend and couldn't have gone any better than it did. After being so home sick, and not feeling well, Matt went above and beyond to make me feel better. I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world. So happy to have him.
On another good note, I am DJing for the first time tomorrow night in Hotshots, as well as the following night. Then I have Friday off where I'm going to take a party bus to a casino and then a club in another town for one of the Reds birthdays. Followed by an adult weekend of DJing Jaks on Saturday and Sunday with my best girl, Gemma. Things are looking up again. Good days and bad days but overall loving it!
Saturday I worked Bingo. Bingo in England is different from Canada though. The bingo cards here are just numbers and they play for full house (all the numbers) not lines or squares like back home. I have yet to be on a microphone since being here as i'm somewhat nervous about my accent and how it will be taken. I get called American constantly and have to repeat myself at times. I went on the mic during Bingo and a table of about 20 women were just really rude. For no reason, they weren't drunk, and didn't need to be, but were anyways. Its bad enough when the men hit on and harass you, but its just plain annoying when the women are rude too. I just smiled anyways and let it go, as I can't really do much else. I worked this detail with Tiffany which was good, and then we both did karoke later that night. This was a first as well. Everyone that sang was drunk and it was pretty funny. The venue it was in wasn't busy at all, but that's probably because the Chelsea football game was on, and Brits love football like fat kids love cake. It was a good time and finished early as well which was nice. There was a huge hen party and three of the woman were dressed up in the outfits at the very end of Mamma Mia, during the credits. They sang super trouper and danced the routine as well. Anytime I hear Abba it instantly reminds me of Dad. He would have loved it! Once it finished, I went out for a few drinks with the team and ended up in Burger King at the end of it, clear signs of a good night.
Sunday and Monday I had off with Matt. So we went to London. We didn't really have any set plans of what we wanted to do, just time out of the bubble together. He worked midnight until eight in the morning, had a quick nap, and then we went to the train station. We got to london around four or five o clock and then walked around until we found a hotel. We stayed at the Premier Inn which are apparently everywhere in England, British version of Best Western. It had only been open six days and was in the center of Leicester Square. It was perfect. The room was purple and white and everything was fresh and clean. The location couldn't have been any better, one tube stop away from covent gardens, right next to the cinema and tons of restaurants. We dropped our bag off at the hotel, then headed off to walk around a bit. We had dinner at Bella Italia and it was delicious. Little garlic breads, then spicy shrimp pasta. With, of course, wine. It was perfect. After a bit more walking around, and through covent garden where there was a man playing his guitar on a cobble stone road with a crowd gathered. It couldn't have been any better. We ended the night watching American Pie the Reunion which was hilarious! Then went back to the hotel after a long day. The next morning we did a bit of shopping, walked all over the place, past Buckingham Palace and stopped in St. James Park for a bit. I'm from a small town in Canada but I love the big city lifestyle, not to forget that I'm a country girl too though. Matt doesn't enjoy being in downtown London for long periods of time, so we went to the park so he could relax a bit, as the whole weekend had been mainly about me, he deserved some time too. When we were walking around, we found this store that sold only Australian, New Zealand and Canadian things! It was amazing. It had fruit loops; maple syrup; tootsie rolls; quaker oats oatmeal; french vanilla timmies; so many things! Matt got me a box of Dad's Cookies, and got himself a tootsie roll as I wouldn't share with him the last one that I had sent to me from Canada. Just a few spots over from the store, was a pub called the Maple Leaf. Unfortunately it was under construction, im hoping to have Canada Day off though, so I can go back for it! How cool would that be?! In this same block was T.G.I.Fridays. Matt has never been so thats where we went for lunch. I had too massive Bahama Mama's, they were unbelievable, and a chicken salad which was delicious. Matt ordered a burger because it "challenged" him. The menu read something along the lines of "Can you handle it?" and of course he felt the need to then be manly and accept. Regardless, I think he enjoyed it. After this we did a bit more wandering, then made our way to Victoria Station to head home. I fell asleep on the train back, and had an early night once home in the bubble. It was an absolutely amazing weekend and couldn't have gone any better than it did. After being so home sick, and not feeling well, Matt went above and beyond to make me feel better. I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world. So happy to have him.
On another good note, I am DJing for the first time tomorrow night in Hotshots, as well as the following night. Then I have Friday off where I'm going to take a party bus to a casino and then a club in another town for one of the Reds birthdays. Followed by an adult weekend of DJing Jaks on Saturday and Sunday with my best girl, Gemma. Things are looking up again. Good days and bad days but overall loving it!
5/17/2012
Rough Week, Fresh Start
Another adult weekend has passed, and being a Red, I didn't have to work too much. I was on main gate for a few hours to check the guests in, and then I had the night off. Saturday and Sunday was spent in the conference center training. I am now a fully qualified fencing coach. I can teach fencing anywhere in the world. It was a really fun course and something I had never done before. I can't wait until we start it here in our activities. Only seven reds are qualified to teach it, and then sports coaches can as well. The sessions are only an hour in length and are for ages 9-17, so it'll be interesting to see how much we can teach in such a short time. I only went out the Saturday night of the adult weekend and didn't stay out too late, as I had training early the next day.
We are now into another family week and its fairly busy. This past week has been a bit frustrating for me. My last two room mates moved out and the accom was an absolute mess. I spent one of my mornings cleaning it all up and organizing it the way I wanted for when Ella moved in. Ella moved in one of the nights that I was at work, with help from some of the guys. Its good to have just the two of us in here. We have started painting and moved all of her stuff over. Its starting to look really good, but not even closed to finished yet. We haven't heard of anyone else moving in just yet, but there is redcoat auditions this weekend so im sure we will have some new roomies soon.
Being here is worse than highschool sometimes in the sense of rumours and drama. I try to avoid the drama but the maturity level of the team is quite low at times. Another rumor went around about me this week, and I just didn't stand for it. I confronted the person and kicked off. I'm so sick of hearing new things about me every week that aren't even remotely true. So this past week has been me stressed out with the accom, rumours, having a cold, and to top it all off... Sunday was mothers day in Canada.
My family just bought a cottage back home, and on Sunday had everyone go there for a BBQ. Sunday in England was spent finishing my course, feeling sick, dealing with rumours, and wanting to cry. My dad phoned me so I could speak to everyone and it was really nice, but I didn't mention anything about how I was feeling as I didn't want to ruin the day for them back home. It was really difficult and I wish I could have been home for it.
A few days have gone by and I was feeling even worse mentally and physically. Finally yesterday I had a day off, and just broke down. Everyone I am close with here is going home this weekend to be with their families as its an adult break and we aren't really needed. Ella's dad came to pick her up and was wall papering her room. I spoke to him and he just reminded me of my dad. Im happy for everyone that they can go home and be with their families, but it was just too difficult yesterday for me. So I went into my room and had a break down. Ella was there for me, and so was Louis. I absolutely love being here, and my job and all the bits that come with it, but when you have a bad week, there is few people to turn to. I walked around teamlines to see if there was someone to talk to, which made me realize, there are few people here that actually care all that much. I went to Birds accom and we went and had Burger King with her boyfriend. We just talked it all out and it made me feel a bit better. Then I went and saw Gemma and she was comforting as well. Matt was working the whole night so I was left to deal with it on my own. He has been there whenever i've felt homesick even though he hasn't always known when im down.
I was never the type of person to get home sick, especially because I enjoy being here. Just having bad days here can easily get you into a lonely state of mind. I guess you don't really know what you have until its gone. I miss my family a lot and wish they could be here, but this is all part of growing up and doing what I want to do. I chose to come here and i'm glad I did. I've become closer to my family I think and i've made some amazing friends. This has been a rough week, but today is a new day, and I'm going to start fresh.
We are now into another family week and its fairly busy. This past week has been a bit frustrating for me. My last two room mates moved out and the accom was an absolute mess. I spent one of my mornings cleaning it all up and organizing it the way I wanted for when Ella moved in. Ella moved in one of the nights that I was at work, with help from some of the guys. Its good to have just the two of us in here. We have started painting and moved all of her stuff over. Its starting to look really good, but not even closed to finished yet. We haven't heard of anyone else moving in just yet, but there is redcoat auditions this weekend so im sure we will have some new roomies soon.
Being here is worse than highschool sometimes in the sense of rumours and drama. I try to avoid the drama but the maturity level of the team is quite low at times. Another rumor went around about me this week, and I just didn't stand for it. I confronted the person and kicked off. I'm so sick of hearing new things about me every week that aren't even remotely true. So this past week has been me stressed out with the accom, rumours, having a cold, and to top it all off... Sunday was mothers day in Canada.
My family just bought a cottage back home, and on Sunday had everyone go there for a BBQ. Sunday in England was spent finishing my course, feeling sick, dealing with rumours, and wanting to cry. My dad phoned me so I could speak to everyone and it was really nice, but I didn't mention anything about how I was feeling as I didn't want to ruin the day for them back home. It was really difficult and I wish I could have been home for it.
A few days have gone by and I was feeling even worse mentally and physically. Finally yesterday I had a day off, and just broke down. Everyone I am close with here is going home this weekend to be with their families as its an adult break and we aren't really needed. Ella's dad came to pick her up and was wall papering her room. I spoke to him and he just reminded me of my dad. Im happy for everyone that they can go home and be with their families, but it was just too difficult yesterday for me. So I went into my room and had a break down. Ella was there for me, and so was Louis. I absolutely love being here, and my job and all the bits that come with it, but when you have a bad week, there is few people to turn to. I walked around teamlines to see if there was someone to talk to, which made me realize, there are few people here that actually care all that much. I went to Birds accom and we went and had Burger King with her boyfriend. We just talked it all out and it made me feel a bit better. Then I went and saw Gemma and she was comforting as well. Matt was working the whole night so I was left to deal with it on my own. He has been there whenever i've felt homesick even though he hasn't always known when im down.
I was never the type of person to get home sick, especially because I enjoy being here. Just having bad days here can easily get you into a lonely state of mind. I guess you don't really know what you have until its gone. I miss my family a lot and wish they could be here, but this is all part of growing up and doing what I want to do. I chose to come here and i'm glad I did. I've become closer to my family I think and i've made some amazing friends. This has been a rough week, but today is a new day, and I'm going to start fresh.
5/07/2012
Gators in London
I was planning on going to London with Matt last week, but because we live in England, the weather was supposed to be miserable that day, so we passed on it, and went to Chichester instead. It ended up being a gorgeous day out, and was nice to leave the bubble. We walked through the town, did a bit of shopping, and went to the famous nandos. Everyone here has an obsession with this restaurant. It is mainly meals with some sort of chicken and you can choose the level of hotness. I went with Hot because I like things spicy and most british foods are very bland anyways, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad. Nothing Franks Red Hot couldn't have prepared me for. I was wrong! Half way through my wrap I was near tears at the table. Matt found this funny, my tongue and lips were burning for at least another hour after leaving. When walking through the town, there was a guy singing and playing guitar so we sat down to listen for a bit. A few songs in, and he sang Free Falling. There really isn't a day that goes by that Neil doesn't cross my mind. It was a small reminder from him, knowing hes always with me. He was the cherry on top of my perfect sundae.
At some point during the week, Matt and I went on a double date with another redcoat and resort safety. This would be Paul and Gemma. At first I was unsure about Paul, as I am quite protective of Gemma. Shes my babygirl, and my one of my closest friends here. She is Butlins tallest female redcoat, and an amazing DJ. Her siblings are lovely and I can't wait until she takes me home with her so I can spend time with her family. We went to a cute little spot in town and had a good laugh out. It was nice to not really be with a large group of ents. I loved the double date, and knowing Gemma, she'll be pushing for another one.
Friday was the start of the football weekend, and as i have nothing nice to say, i will say nothing at all.
I spent all day Saturday with my future room mate Ella, shopping for stuff for our accom. It was a really nice day out for some bonding and we found the cutest stuff for our accom. We are quite similar in tastes, and although not too loud, definitely has a funny side. I enjoy her company and know that we don't have to go out and do a ton of stuff, we can just sit in a chat for hours. Shes a good friend to have here and im looking forward to seeing where it goes. Saturday night, Matt and I were going to go for dinner, but the Beachcomber was packed so we ended up ordering pizza, having a drink in center stage, then going home and watching a bit of Harry Potter. It was a nice night in, as it doesn't matter where we go, I just like being around him.
Sunday morning, I woke up, got ready and headed off to the train station. The weather was rainy and cold, as to be expected of typical british weather. I was on my way to London. Michelle Presse and Chris Madronich, two very good canadian friends of mine that I went to school with back home, were in London, so we all met up. Michelles sister Nicole was there as well. Michelle has spent almost a year in Italy as an au pair, and wanted to come and see London. Her sister just arrived in Italy to be an au pair as well, so they came together. Chris landed in London about a week or so ago to try and find work over here, maybe do an internship. London should take about an hour and a half from Bognor, on a good day. Sunday, is never a good day to travel in England. Trains are delayed, or cancelled or not running, or any other excuse to make Sunday a miserable day of travel. I got to the train station and found out I now had to wait 45 minutes for my train. Once on it, I had to get off at the next station and wait even longer for the next one. I was headed to London Victoria, when I needed to go to London Bridge. So i hopped off, ran platforms and got on the right train.. Shortly after being on this one, I got a phone call from Michelle saying she wanted to meet at Westminster Abbey.. "no problem". This meant I had to switch back onto the original train that I was on!!! Sitting next to me was an older gentlemen who I asked for a bit of help, as he seemed to be more local than tourist looking in my opinion. I ended up spending about an hour or so travelling with him. He is a 43-year old mounty policeman. The day before, he worked in Wembley stadium on a horse for crowd control of the venue filled with 100,000 fans. So crazy. Really nice guy, and he pointed me in the right direction. When I finally met up with the girls and Chris, we did a bit of walking around, went to a pub to grab some food. Then I couldn't help myself, I had to show them a real british shopping experience. Thats right, Primark. Primark in London was absolutely manic. I've never seen anything like it. Two floors of messy chaos!! We did a bit of shopping, then went our separate ways, as I knew I had a long journey ahead of me to get home. It was really nice seeing them, and I love going to London, so it was definitely a good day. The bad thing about London though, is the people. Its like all of the assholes of England, reside in London. Any person I talked to, was just miserable and rude. And god forbid you made any eye contact with people in Primark.. you would've been stabbed. On the train home, I sat with a guy named Ed. He recently graduated from the university of Chichester (town near bognor) with a French & Anthropology degree. He was coming home from a weekend in London for one of his friends birthdays. The day before, he saw Rupert Grint in a cafe in London... yes that is Ron Weasley! SO JEALOUS. He was a really funny guy, and good company to have on the somewhat long journey home. Matt picked me up from the train station with his friend Wick. She used to work safety and her boyfriend, who also worked with them, was down for the night. They are some of Matts closest friends, so we all went for a drink when I was back. It ended up being a really funny night, and I learned that I can outdrink Matt with jager. Well done Canada. ;) This morning I was treated with a breakfast sandwhich for taking care of him being drunk. Not a bad way to start my morning. I got to work main gate today with him which was fun as well. Im working Centre Stage tonight with about seven redcoats so it should be a really good time. Well thats it for now, until next time xo.
At some point during the week, Matt and I went on a double date with another redcoat and resort safety. This would be Paul and Gemma. At first I was unsure about Paul, as I am quite protective of Gemma. Shes my babygirl, and my one of my closest friends here. She is Butlins tallest female redcoat, and an amazing DJ. Her siblings are lovely and I can't wait until she takes me home with her so I can spend time with her family. We went to a cute little spot in town and had a good laugh out. It was nice to not really be with a large group of ents. I loved the double date, and knowing Gemma, she'll be pushing for another one.
Friday was the start of the football weekend, and as i have nothing nice to say, i will say nothing at all.
I spent all day Saturday with my future room mate Ella, shopping for stuff for our accom. It was a really nice day out for some bonding and we found the cutest stuff for our accom. We are quite similar in tastes, and although not too loud, definitely has a funny side. I enjoy her company and know that we don't have to go out and do a ton of stuff, we can just sit in a chat for hours. Shes a good friend to have here and im looking forward to seeing where it goes. Saturday night, Matt and I were going to go for dinner, but the Beachcomber was packed so we ended up ordering pizza, having a drink in center stage, then going home and watching a bit of Harry Potter. It was a nice night in, as it doesn't matter where we go, I just like being around him.
Sunday morning, I woke up, got ready and headed off to the train station. The weather was rainy and cold, as to be expected of typical british weather. I was on my way to London. Michelle Presse and Chris Madronich, two very good canadian friends of mine that I went to school with back home, were in London, so we all met up. Michelles sister Nicole was there as well. Michelle has spent almost a year in Italy as an au pair, and wanted to come and see London. Her sister just arrived in Italy to be an au pair as well, so they came together. Chris landed in London about a week or so ago to try and find work over here, maybe do an internship. London should take about an hour and a half from Bognor, on a good day. Sunday, is never a good day to travel in England. Trains are delayed, or cancelled or not running, or any other excuse to make Sunday a miserable day of travel. I got to the train station and found out I now had to wait 45 minutes for my train. Once on it, I had to get off at the next station and wait even longer for the next one. I was headed to London Victoria, when I needed to go to London Bridge. So i hopped off, ran platforms and got on the right train.. Shortly after being on this one, I got a phone call from Michelle saying she wanted to meet at Westminster Abbey.. "no problem". This meant I had to switch back onto the original train that I was on!!! Sitting next to me was an older gentlemen who I asked for a bit of help, as he seemed to be more local than tourist looking in my opinion. I ended up spending about an hour or so travelling with him. He is a 43-year old mounty policeman. The day before, he worked in Wembley stadium on a horse for crowd control of the venue filled with 100,000 fans. So crazy. Really nice guy, and he pointed me in the right direction. When I finally met up with the girls and Chris, we did a bit of walking around, went to a pub to grab some food. Then I couldn't help myself, I had to show them a real british shopping experience. Thats right, Primark. Primark in London was absolutely manic. I've never seen anything like it. Two floors of messy chaos!! We did a bit of shopping, then went our separate ways, as I knew I had a long journey ahead of me to get home. It was really nice seeing them, and I love going to London, so it was definitely a good day. The bad thing about London though, is the people. Its like all of the assholes of England, reside in London. Any person I talked to, was just miserable and rude. And god forbid you made any eye contact with people in Primark.. you would've been stabbed. On the train home, I sat with a guy named Ed. He recently graduated from the university of Chichester (town near bognor) with a French & Anthropology degree. He was coming home from a weekend in London for one of his friends birthdays. The day before, he saw Rupert Grint in a cafe in London... yes that is Ron Weasley! SO JEALOUS. He was a really funny guy, and good company to have on the somewhat long journey home. Matt picked me up from the train station with his friend Wick. She used to work safety and her boyfriend, who also worked with them, was down for the night. They are some of Matts closest friends, so we all went for a drink when I was back. It ended up being a really funny night, and I learned that I can outdrink Matt with jager. Well done Canada. ;) This morning I was treated with a breakfast sandwhich for taking care of him being drunk. Not a bad way to start my morning. I got to work main gate today with him which was fun as well. Im working Centre Stage tonight with about seven redcoats so it should be a really good time. Well thats it for now, until next time xo.
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