ye old england - a day in york

York has been used as an area of settlement from before even the Romans time. It's also somewhere I've wanted to go for a long time, for a fairly bizarre reason. When I was in primary school we used to have "computer units". This was when the class would divide into groups and we would get a certain amount of time per day to play an educational computer game. I remember one of the games went back in time to York, England, and it always stuck in my mind so that when I thought of cobbled streets and old England I thought of York. 

So in December I finally made the journey to walk the streets I have seen in probably terrible 90s computer animation as a child. It was obviously much better than I imagined. 

York Minster

berlin in winter - layers of history

Berlin is history on show. Despite the physical divides falling 25 years ago the city bares the scars of war and division, some of it on purpose so that we can remember and try and understand what has gone before.

At the East Side Gallery

a day in vienna

Vienna is the perfect day trip from Bratislava, since it's only about an hour by train or bus and you get the benefit of staying in cheaper Slovakia but experiencing the culture of an Austrian city.

The first thing you see getting out of the underground in central Vienna 

krakow - welcome to history

This trip was a bit of a strange one for me. It came about because I needed to leave the country for a couple of weeks when my UK working visa ended. While Krakow and Berlin had always been on my list of places I wanted to see before I left Europe, it was a weird feeling planning an enforced trip. Luckily my amazing Mum came over to do the trip with me, after putting off thinking about it and planning it for so long I finally sucked it up and did so in just enough time for her to book and join me. It wouldn't have been the same without her and I wouldn't have enjoyed it even half as much! 

Travel buddies reunited!

seville - a brief note

I started a big ranty post about Seville while I was still travelling but then deleted it, deciding I should just focus on the positive. People describe the city as near perfect, the only thing wrong being that it has no beach. I found the city itself really nice, it was the kind of ridiculous hostel experience I had there that put me off.

Seville Cathedral

roma - really old things and carbs

I have to admit I wasn't entirely sure about Rome to begin with.

Looking out across Rome

athens part one

Arriving in a new country at night is always a bit strange. Sometimes the airports and the transport to your destination all seem so familiar you could be almost anywhere, until you see something that firmly reminds you it's a whole new place and you can get excited about a new adventure.

In Paris it was spotting the Eiffel Tower, in Istanbul the ancient walls of Constantinople, and in Greece it was the Greek writing on buildings and signs. Kind of forgot about that...

on the road again

- To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,

To gain all while you give,

To roam the roads of land remote,

To travel is to live - Hans Christian Anderson 

another august in edinburgh

I love Edinburgh in August.

Here we go again!

summer festival: t in the park

One of the things I wanted to do while living over here was go to a music festival. T in the Park might not be the biggest or considered the best, but it was definitely the most convenient! Luckily it also ended up being pretty sweet.

I feel like some of our experience should be a guide on what NOT to do at T in the Park, but it's always the ridiculous things that make it in the end.

So here is the T in the Park Adventure according to Sonja, Sophie, Danny and Tom, with a guest appearance by the Bolton Crew.

edinburgh bucket list

So at this stage it looks as though I will be leaving Edinburgh in less than 8 months.

View from Grey Friars Churchyard

northern ireland escapades

The beauty of Europe is that you can skip over to another country for the weekend and see a decent amount of it. I have been meaning to go to Northern Ireland since I got here, with the flight being only half an hour, and seven of us finally made the journey at the beginning of March.

The coast of Northern Ireland

waitangi day pub crawl 2014 style

For the second year in a row I made the trek down to London for the Waitangi Day Pub Crawl shenanigans.

Possum costume!!

everything is grand in ireland

Since my Mum was a school girl it has been her dream to go to Ireland, and since it is less than an hour flight I couldn't let her leave the UK without making the journey.

Countryside in County Kerry

15 things i learned in paris

There is so much to do and see in Paris, and much of it well known, so I don't really need to do a blow by blow account of our time there.

Instead, here are 15 things I learned on our family trip just after New Year.

Eiffel Tower! Just as awesome in real life