From Melbourne to Scotland

So I am back after a little while... I have been getting used to living in Edinburgh and am LOVING it. I have started to make some new friends, my number fear and well things are looking up. I am working lots and lots but given how much i love my job its not really work.... nice.

I was lucky enough to catch up with my mum and sister after a six month gap since our last outing. I have missed them SOOO much I can't even put it into words... thank god for Skype and email as I think if it was 10 years ago and things weren't as accessible I would be a mess and maybe wouldn't have made it this long without seeing there faces.

They have been lucky enough to hit up Barcelona, Venice, Florence and Rome... I was only able to catch up on the Venice leg of this due to work but believe me... it was worth the trip!!!
The flight was pretty boring on my own and I was properly nervous about catching the ferry across to the main city... still an Island as I am sure most people are aware. Lucky my mum and sis were there already and they were able to meet me at our 'stop' Madonna Del Orto. The ferry was great although I do believe that leaving on the hour only is a bit ridiculous when there are SO many people arriving each minute. I was that person who JUST missed out on getting on the 11 am one so I had to wait... un knowingly for a whole hour until the next one came... I must admit I was that girl who was bossy and made sure the new comers missed out on the ferry... I think the travel I have done over this last 6 months has made me much tougher in getting my own way... surely waiting for 2 hours would have been a little more than ridiculous!!!!

Our apartment was STUNNING and it was right on a little canal... funnily enough haha. The city itself is mind boggling... I don't know how people live there and make it work. It was so confusing and even after 3 nights I think if you had turned me around 4 times I would have been lost. Not even kidding. We saw some amazing boats.... an ambulance ( followed by a hearse ) and I couldn't help thinking that maybe if the ambulance had been able to go 100 miles an hour then maybe the hearse wouldn't have been required?? I also saw a postal service... what happens if it sinks? This also leads to the question of finding the houses you are meant to be delivering to? The streets are not really named and if they are they tend to have 4 different names. Oh the mind could be boggled on a minute to minute basis.

We went across to the little island of Lido, a kind of mecca for the super rich beach goers. It was nice but sadly my lunch here was probably my least favourite BUT on a high the gelato was the best... tit for tat and all that jazz. We had a stroll along the beach and got a little bit of colour which was nice... especially after not seeing sun for a few months now! Since Cartagena, Colombia I believe!!!
We then jumped on yet another water bus and headed over to Marano... It is the glass making island and apart from a bit of a smell, the island itself was lovely. We managed to catch the final glass making demo and the old chap doing it took quite a shining to my sis, one of the many men who seemed to, and took her over to the oven... I was a bit worried for her safety but he seemed genuinely quite lovely... No english on his part and NO italian on our part meant lots of hand gestures and lots of smiles. Bless him... he was a gem. My Aunt ( who joined us the day before this ) bought herself some lovely goblets and she also got my sis a nice glass... It isn't something I would use and given Im not sure where I want to lay my head so to speak I wasn't going to risk buying anything too fancy. It was so nice to see it though... bit ott on occasion but I think that is the Italian way no??

Anyway I managed to eat and drink and eat some more... detox has begun for my trip to Budapest.... being around such a gorgeous sister has made me motivated to get back on the healthy bandwagon!!! UK shall not have me getting fat... I hope!!!! I hope to see Venice one day again... maybe not on my own and maybe not with a lover... fights are best left to the ones I can win I feel!!!!

With Love, Claudia x

So I have been in Edinburgh for a whole month now, maybe even more. I love it. I didn't to begin with. I was scared of being an Aussie cliche. I was worried I wouldn't make friends and I was terrified of not finding a little coffee shop to fall in love with.
Truth be told, this place is pretty lovely. My pretty apartment has a view of Arthurs Seat and the Radical Road. This means, every morning I can look out and see all the poor souls pulling themselves up the mountain to be surely blown away by a chilly, fierce wind. I climbed it once... and have every intention of going back... soon... maybe.
I have managed to do some pretty 'touristy' things. People may scoff at the 'chesse' factor involved in a bus tour, I did myself once or twice, until I realised how nice it is to be snug, comfy and able to hear about places you might not get to by foot. The only thing better than a bus tour is a bus tour minus the group of bratty teenagers that made me feel older than my 25 years.

Don't get me wrong, I still love London, why wouldn't you? It is a bright and bustling city where Edinburgh is more cosy and safe... It has all my friends and that makes it hard to leave each and every time but ultimately Edinburgh is somewhere to 'hang up my coat'.
It's a little spooky with its gothic spears and towering buildings, dark alleys and the promise of poltergeists, who I hope to never ever ever ever see. Im just not sure whether I would feel the same romantic attachment to London as I do to Edinburgh... I have a crush on this place.

I want to show 'him' off... I feel guilty if I stay inside too long and don't make an effort to explore his little streets and parks... it may well be valentines day and I may be single these days but I am going to enjoy the unrequited love I have for this place and gaze adoringly out my window and the place I now affectionately call home.

Much Love

Claudia x

So, how things have changed... I have been all the way around the world to the UK from Melbourne and have done more than I would have ever imagined. Now things are moving and changing and its all pretty full on and scary. I am now travelling alone. I am hoping to make some friends along the way and maybe they will be nice and maybe they will be horrid...
I am now living in Edinburgh, as of today that is. Josh is in London and shall be doing things his way from now on. I shall also be doing things my way. I am loving the place already and am getting used to the below zero weather. I will admit though I did manage to fall over today on the way to the shops.... Touch embarrassing. I am getting better at knowing what people are saying and even look up when someone calls me 'hen'. Im not going to say this is how I imagined being here would be. Its not. I imagined a two person flat, boyfriend in tow and sitting in pubs with people not feeling sorry for me, as I wasn't alone. Thats the biggest thing that has happened. I have climbed and completed the Inca Trail. I have eaten Llama and I have sat on a bus for 36 hours across Colombia. I can knowingly say that none of that has felt as daunting, scary and sad as the end of my relationship. On a happy note, I am able to look at life differently now. I know I am a touch stronger and braver than I was 13 weeks ago. I know that I can probably survive outside of Melbourne and be okay on my own. I am able to buy what I want in the supermarket and not need worry about anyone elses thoughts. This is both fun and terrifying. I am going to keep travelling. I am going to keep looking at new places and walking where ever I can... Maybe the France to Portugal walk through Spain? Maybe just another mountain... I just know that the world has too many nice places to see before I head back to Melbourne.... maybe even somewhere else. I know that Australia will always be home and even though I was born in this lovely place I know that I am actually Australian through and through... for one Ill never be able to say canny..... or aye.....

with love
claudia

So we have been in London now for a week! It has gone amazingly quickly and I almost don't want to ever leave! It has snowed already which caused a few problems with the trains etc but given we have been walking everywhere our only problem is keeping vertical. We have been to a couple of markets this week, Spittalfield which is a newly commercialised market with LOVELY things from arty outfits to beautiful body creams all made by hand. It would have been easy to spend a huge amount of money here, but I managed to be strong and get away with only a lovely body butter and a new book. The other market we went to was Camden. This is a pretty famous place and the home of punks I guess. People like Amy Winehouse and Noel Fielding * the mighty boosh * are from around here and are said to frequent the bars and clubs quite regularly! Sadly we didn't spot either of them!

We have caught up with some friends from school days and today I had the very special treat of hanging out with my little Aunty ( the one who spoiled me with lunch at the Monestario in Peru ) and indulged in new tights and coffee! It was a really nice day and it was so so so lovely to have a little bit of family in such a HUGE city. Apart from that it has all been really normal and relaxing. Enjoying the spiced rum and warm treats that London has to offer. Ill have to stop being on holiday soon I imagine but for now ill be shopping, eating, drinking and enjoying sleep ins for as long as I can!!!!

Much Love

Claudia xxx

So we are in the UK now.... pretty exciting and pretty damn cold! We were lucky enough to have five days in Madrid. It is a truly stunning city! We hit up Zara... and ate enough tapas to double my weight... Josh and I took part in a walking tour which was pretty fun and given the size of the city a pretty good way to spend 3 hours. It hadn't really hit me as to how cold things would be once we left the land of South America. Turns out it is FREEZING. I am not going to whinge though as its still awesome and I still feel really really lucky to be here. We are waiting for our friends to get back from Egypt and its just so nice to be in an apartment and not surrounded by 12 other people in the one bedroom. I think that tomorrow will be a day of looking and shopping and finding a hairdresser! Anyone that has any hints please post to me!!!

More to come... love Claudia xx